Fallen Star
by Levviant
Summary: Kumiko Futari is just another average girl except for one advantage; She's an Egg Bearer. Kumiko's parents are split up and since her mom's getting married in the states she has to move with her dad to Tokyo. Is this good? Bad? Or possibly lovey dovey?
1. Meet the Star: Kumiko Futari

**Hey guys~! So this is like my 2nd fan-fic that I've ever written. I hope you guys like it though~!**

**~Charlie :] 3 Peace**

**Disclaimer: I () do not own any material involving the anime/manga Shugo Chara.  
**

* * *

"Shit~!" I screamed flaring my arms in the air as a dozen x-eggs attacked me.

Hi my name's Kumiko Futari. I'm a 7th grader in Japan and well I'm an Egg Bearer.

"Kumiko character-transform with me!" Mimori shouted and I replied with a slight nod.

That's my chara, Mimori. We've been together since the 5th grade when my mom and dad divorced. Being split between my mom and dad week after week I tried to fulfill their wishes and make them as happy as possible. So one night when I was with my dad, an egg just suddenly appeared on my bed.

**! Flash Back !**

_It was warm and small like an innocent child. The egg was decorated with beautiful designs. It had two golden outlined wings and in between those wings was a shooting star. The egg itself was a light baby blue that reminded me of swirly clouds. I gently cradled the egg in my hands and kissed the spot between the wings._

_Then out of nowhere the egg started hatching and well I totally freaked. I was jumping around trying to research what to do when an egg hatches but then a soft, gentle voice interrupted me._

"_Kumiko you're just as I've always imagined! Hehe, dreams do come true." _

_I turned around slowly with a lump in my throat. A floating figure just floated there in the middle of my room. The figure was obviously a girl. She had soft, light, bouncy brown locks. She was dressed with a white tunic with thin straps and a blue ribbon at her waist. If I wasn't so shocked I would've reached out and touched her golden star headband._

"_Hehe, my name's Mimori I'm your chara," She placed her small hands to her chest and closed her eyes, "I was born from your heart's calls and dreams." She opened her eyes and flew over to me. _

_I stared at her with awe, "M-my heart's calls and dreams?" Mimori nodded and played with my cheeks so that I would smile._

"_Oooh! I know we're just going to have so many good times!" I smiled and we both took a seat on my bed, as she informed me all about her world._

**! End Flash Back !**

"Kumiko character-transform with me!" Mimori shouted and I replied with a slight nod.

An aura of shining blue wings surrounded me. I twirled around as my transformation began. I was suddenly draped with a tunic like Mimori but it was longer. A long golden staff with a gleaming crystal star perched on top was equipped in my hand. My hair stayed its winter night shade of black but a circlet with a star in the middle was around my forehead.

Mimori gave me thumbs up and winked, "Looking good Kumi-chan!"

I smiled and faced my opponents. This was the 3rd time this week that x-eggs even approached me. As an Egg Bearer I had to make sure these eggs were purified so they could go back to their owners who deserved to have dreams and happiness.

I swung my staff downwards so it pointed towards the group of x-eggs and a casting of shooting stars surrounded them. They began to get confused and cry out. Some of them bumped into the other x-eggs as I purified them back to their original state.

I somehow felt bad for the x-eggs. Was there ever an x-egg that didn't want to go back to normal? Was there such a thing?

Noticing I was worried Mimori spoke to me from within me with her gentle voice, "Calm down Kumi-chan. It'll be okay. Everyone has a home to go to."

I placed my hand over my chest and looked up at the sky that was now full of white shimmering eggs.

~.!.~

I barged into my house in a bit of a hurry. I slipped my shoes off and tossed them to the floor. My father was sitting on his brown leather couch watching some comedian show. For some reason I always felt warm and happy when I saw my dad like this.

"Kumiko go watch some TV with him." I felt Mimori push me forward towards my father. I accidently tripped and my dad looked over at me with a smile.

"Kumiko, you're home already? Did tutoring go well?" My dads went over to the kitchen counter and stuck some of the leftovers from dinner into the microwave. I walked over to the couch and listened to the beeping noises as he pressed the different buttons on the microwave.

"Uh…Yeah." I mumbled as I fiddled with my fingers.

The thing is that dad thinks I'm at a tutoring program that my school offers afterschool. The truth is that I'm not going to a tutoring program and well I'm usually purifying x-eggs during that time.

The x-eggs have been overpopulating recently and it's just not normal. Usually I see one or two but 12 is a lot.

My dad carried the leftovers over to me and placed it on the table. Wow…Pizza from 2 days ago. I mean I wasn't picky or anything but sometimes I wished that my dad had a healthier diet. He jogged on the weekends and all but seriously, all this greasy food was going to backfire on him sooner or later. I'd tell him this but I didn't have courage.

Mimori came up to my ear and whispered, "Wish, star, shooting star!" Oh shit. A spark appeared and suddenly there was a pin in my hair that had a star wand on it.

I stood up and smiled at my dad like I was going to give a very important speech, "Father I think you should stop eating this junk food." I pointed to the pizza in front of me, "As you know it's very bad for you and you could suffer problems such as heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure."

I sat back down tired and a bit pissed with Mimori, "Sorry," she whispered.

My dad stared at me shocked, "Kumiko I didn't know you were so concerned about me." He leaned back taking this all in, "I thought you liked this kind of food so I always ate this when you come over and well since you've been staying over for a long time…Well yeah."

I felt so touched. My father was a loving man after-all. Heh, if you asked my mom what she thought of my dad you'd get the exact opposite and a few bad words.

I smiled at him with a case of teary eyes, "Dad, thanks." I hugged him and he laughed patting my back.

I grabbed the plate of pizza and took a bite out of it, "So anything new dad?"

My dad turned the volume on the TV down a bit and smiled weakly, "Yeah well…Kumiko you don't have many friends here so I thought this was a good idea-"

I put my pizza down and swallowed the bit in my mouth before I spoke, "Dad! I have friends but…I don't really hang out with them." I muttered the last part.

"It's okay dear. Your father wasn't as popular too but your mom on the other hand was-" My dad was going to start on 'how much he regretted meeting mom during high school and how he still loved her anyways'.

He looked at me then I raised my eyebrow at him, "Get on with it dad."

He laughed, "Well, we're moving to Tokyo!"

I was taking another bite of my pizza and a huge chuck flew all the way to the TV and now it was just hanging there mocking me, "Tokyo?! Tokyo the city? Dad! Why?"

He looked a bit disappointed and grimaced in my lack of enthusiasm, "Kumiko I got a job offer there and I thought maybe you'd like to start over."

I tried not to look at him but I did when Mimori turned my face just a bit, "Dad…Don't give me that face!" I turned away for a few minutes to only sigh in defeat, "Fine we'll move to Tokyo but only for you. Psh, not like I have any friends to give up." I muttered the last part and rolled my eyes.

My dad leaped from his spot and bear hugged me, "Oh Kumiko I knew you'd love this idea! Plus you're mom's in the states getting married to that…_**Guy**_and she won't be back for a few months. Oh this is great! We leave in 3 weeks Kumiko. 3 weeks, put it on your calendar!"

I watched as my dad happily cleaned the pizza chunk off the TV. If he's happy I'm happy.


	2. Moving to Tokyo!

**Charlie: Hey guys I have a special guest for all of you~! I'd like to welcome Mimori~!**

**Mimori: Hehe aw...Thank you, thank you to all my fans!**

**Charlie: Mimori....This story is new so I'm kind of doubting the fan thing...**

**Mimori: Oh...That's sad....Well I have some pretty cute disco dance moves! Wanna see?**

**Charlie: Maybe next time....Kk Mimori time for the disclaimer~!**

**Mimori: doesn't own any material involving Shugo Chara. Tee hee please review!**

**Mimori and Charlie: Enjoy and peace~!  
**

* * *

That night I laid spread out on my bed. My walls were covered in pictures of my family and good memories. On the floor were old magazines and stuffed animals. Next to the door was my huge bookcase which of course was stuffed with books.

Mimori lay besides me and breathed in a sigh, "3 weeks Kumi-chan. Maybe you'll meet some good friends who have charas too!" Mimori leaped up and started doing some disco with joy in every move.

I laughed at her, "Mimori we'll never know but maybe I'll meet-"

I looked over at my side table and my phone was vibrating. I pushed the screen up and there was a text message for me:

**_How was school Kumiko? I had soccer practice today _**

**_And worked up a sweat -_____-"_**

I laughed at how he used the wrong smiley. In the 6th grade my class was assigned pen-pals from some preppy school called Seiyo Academy. I got a guy whose pen-name was All-Star and mine's was Dream-Catcher. We got along instantly and ever since then we've been texting, emailing, IMing but not by phone--yet.

I replied but I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. Is it weird to like someone you've never really met? Only by electronics? People say it's dangerous but I feel as if I know All-Star.

**_Well I had to go to my tutoring class and yeah._**

**_But I couldn't go because I had some business to _**

**_Attend to. :]_**

I waited for his response but he didn't reply back. I began to worry. Did I do something wrong? Did I say something wrong? Oh my gosh maybe I used the wrong font!

Mimori patted my back and did her disco dance again trying to get my attention. I couldn't sit still but once it hit 12 AM I decided to let it go and get some rest. He's obviously into sports a lot so maybe he needs a lot of rest. No biggy.

**! All-Star's POV !**

I waited for Dream-Catcher's reply. I tried not to look so desperate because all 4 of my brothers were surrounding me. I especially didn't want to look desperate for a girl's reply in front my older brother.

He looked down at me and smirked with a teasing grin, "Who you texting lil' bro?" he snatched my phone from me and lifted it up high so I couldn't reach it. I clenched my teeth and jumped on him trying to wrestle it away from him.

"Kaido give it back!" I said still struggling to retrieve the phone back.

"Can you guys please shut up?" Rento looked at us from the kitchen counter and threw a plastic water bottle at Kaido's head. Kaido turned his head very slowly towards Rento with flames in his eyes.

"Did you just hit me with that bottle shirmpy?" Kaido's voice was treacherous.

"I'm trying to read my book here. Can you guys fight outside?" Shusui snapped his book shut and walked to his bedroom annoyed.

"Eh I'm fine you guys can just go on fighting." Unkai grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned the volume up a bit too much.

Kaido just dropped my phone onto my lap and stood up, "Eh, it's boring now. I'm going to go to bed." He walked over to his room yawning and closed the door behind him.

"Well I'm going to bed too~!" Chimed Rento and smirked at me.

I looked at him with a confused expression, "What? Do I have a booger or something?" I was just about to put my finger up my nose but Rento stopped me with his shaking laughter.

"NO~! That's not it!" He was already at his bedroom door when he whispered, "You've got to clean the dishes!"

I stared back at Unkai who was sleeping on his recliner with drool hanging from the side of his mouth. I rolled my eyes and placed my phone on the coffee table. Shit I always had to clean up after my brothers.

After I finished the dishes I was completely knocked out and fell asleep on the couch just as my phone began to vibrate.

**! Normal POV (FF to 3 weeks later) !**

I stopped going to school since last week so I could help my dad with packing. I didn't have friends to say goodbye to and when I left my homeroom I didn't hear anyone crying or calling my name.

I packed my things one by one with no emotion. Sure I was glad to move and start over but I was a nobody. How could I be sure that I wouldn't stay a nobody?

"Kumiko are you making any progress?" My dad knocked on my door once and came in without my permission, "I've already done the other rooms but you've been packing your room for a whole week."

He sat down next to me as I was putting a group of old family memories in a box. My dad wrapped his arm around my shoulder glancing at all the photos in the box, "Kumiko are you depressed? Maybe when we get to Tokyo we should get you a therapist. It's natural to be-"

I looked at my dad with my pouting cheeks and shocked expression, "Dad! I do not need a therapist I just feel nervous about moving…" I calmed down and bit and went over to another box to pack my stuffed animals.

My dad sat there looking at the picture as I put a stuffed rabbit into the box, "I'm sure you'll make a lot of friends. In fact, Seiyo Academy is tremendous!"

I turned around shocked, "S-Seiyo Academy?! Why didn't you tell me?!" I threw my rabbit and several other stuffed animals out of their boxes and around the room. I was not going there and surely not where All-Star went!

My dad grabbed my wrist so I couldn't continue to unpack, "Kumiko! Stop unpacking! Is something wrong?"

I turned away trying to seem fine, "Uh…No nothing's wrong. Sorry for the mess." I pushed my dad out of my room and sank to the floor relieved.

_"Oh my God I can't believe this! Maybe this is a dream come true?" _I Thought.

"Kumi-chan aren't you lucky? Hehe I bet All-Star is going to be ecstatic!" She twirled around and started her disco dance once again. I cupped her in my hands and hugged her gently.

"Hehe, I guess so. Can you help me pack Mimori?" She nodded and began to pack all my pencils and erasers. I started to hum a happy tune as I packed in a hurry to get out of here.


	3. Meeting the 'Girlfriend'

**Charlie: Yo, yo, yo~! What's up guys? Today's guest is none other than Amu Hinamori~!**

**Amu: Eh...How'd I end up here?**

**Charlie: Amu please introduce yourself to the fans. We are all equals here~!  
**

**Amu: Hi...I guess. I'm Amu Hinamori. Why am I even here? You interrupted my date with Tadase for this?!**

**Charlie: Hush, hush Amu~! This is my story and I will not have you creating a ruckus~!**

**Amu: Yeah...Whatever. does not own any material involving Shugo Chara.**

**Charlie: You can go now...You aren't invited here anymore~! **

**Amu: Hmph! Wait till I tell Tadase about this!**

**Charlie and Amu: Enjoy and peace~!  
**

* * *

**! Driving Towards Tokyo !**

I finally finished packing in 2 hours flat last night. That was a load off my shoulders and now all I had to worry about was meeting All-Star. We'd be going to the same middle school and last night I couldn't stop squealing with joy. Images of him smiling and twirling me in the air filled my dreams. _Wait that is so not right! _I thought.

I washed away my smile and tried to look happy but not because of that image, "Kumiko are you that happy? Last night I couldn't sleep because of your giggling." I looked at my dad and he had dark bags under his eyes. Oh God he sure didn't get any sleep.

I gapped at his face, "Dad I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you!" I rolled down a window and let some breeze into our little mini-van.

He laughed and slapped the top of the steering wheel, "Oh it's nothing! I'm really happy to see you like this! It can only get better." He sighed dreamingly and had a little moment of happiness.

I laughed at my dad's face. He looked embarrassed and fixed his glasses before looking back at me with a smile and red cheeks.

By the time we were a couple of miles away from Tokyo it was 8 PM and my dad was tired. To make things worse, I spotted and x-egg outside our window and gasped. My dad was so determined to get to Tokyo before 12 that he didn't even seem to notice.

The x-egg continuously banged on the car window but since my dad wasn't an Egg Bearer he couldn't see the x-egg but he could definitely hear them, "Is something tapping the window? Bugs are so annoying!" My dad rolled down his window and shouted some bad words to the air.

I slapped my face in embarrassment. Thank God no one was here but the x-egg was prancing around in the air following our car. I looked at my dad who had a tired yet irritated face and ignored the x-egg's tapping. I'll just wait till we get to Tokyo to show it what I'm really made of.

**! FF to Tokyo !**

Just as I thought, the x-egg followed us all the way to our new house but I ignored it to look at the house itself.

Our house had two grey columns and a black fence continued from the columns, surrounding the house. No gate was to be seen in between the two columns, just an open entrance. Next to the left column was a place to park dad's car and above that space was like this see-through roof. We walked through the opened enterance and saw our house which had a light blue roof and the walls themselves were a very pale color of beige. In the front yard were several trees that were trimmed nicely to imitate animals like elephants, giraffes, hippos, and lions.

"Wow it looks much better than the picture I got." My dad was holding a picture of the house and put it down gapping at our new house.

I was really tired and didn't feel like talking so I just opened our house to have a gust of lavender hit me. The house smelled like lavender that was freshly picked. That wasn't even the bad part of it all. The bad part was that the house was fully furnished and the TV was working!

You know how if you go to buy a new house and you see a TV? So you try to turn it on but like 2 minutes later you find out its plastic? Yeah well this TV was working!

Oh and to top it all off, a women in a yellow bathrobe and her hair wrapped around with a yellow towel came down the stairs smiling at us. I didn't know this woman! She stopped in front of me and smiled brightly, "Hiroshi I didn't know you'd be coming today! Thank goodness I left the door open."

My dad smiled a bit embarrassed, "Oh Airi I'm sorry. I should've called." My dad embraced the woman and left me staring at them being all touchy.

My dad finally remembered I existed and let Airi go, "Oh Kumiko say hello. This is Airi, my girlfriend."

I couldn't even let that term go down my throat much less my stomach, "G-girlfriend? Since when?" I was pretty upset that my dad never bothered to even say 'Hey Kumiko we're moving so I can see my girlfriend!'

Airi looked at my dad a bit worried and upset that he didn't tell me, "Hiroshi I thought you told her! The poor dear is traumatized!" Airi came to me and grabbed my hand leading me to the stairs, "Kumiko why don't you go to your room. It's the last one on the right."

I grabbed my backpack filled with my pictures, phone, I-Pod and Mimori's egg. I didn't even want to look at my dad because right now he disgusted me.

Sure enough there were two different sides once I entered the vertical hallway. There were three rooms on each side and a wide window dead straight ahead. This wasn't such a bad house considering that downstairs was huge.

I opened the last door on the right and inside the walls were painted a pale green. There was an empty bed and a nice cherry-wood bed frame. I didn't have my bed-sheets in my backpack, in fact they were out in the car but I didn't want to go downstairs and be given a 'Kumiko you shouldn't be so negative about everything' speech.

All these years my dad was talking about my mom behind her back and yet he had a girlfriend that he never even bothered to tell his family about! I sank down on my bare bed and unzipped my backpack so Mimori could come out.

She opened her egg and looked at me while she rubbed her eyes, "Kumi-chan don't be so hard on your dad. He might have had a reason for not telling you. Maybe he wanted to protect you." She floated over to my side and braided a lock of my hair.

I looked up at her as I laid down on my back, "I guess you're right but I'll have to sleep on it."

She smiled happily and hummed a tune, "No one can blame you. Everyone needs time."

Somehow knowing my prayer for happiness, my phone vibrated in my backpack. I grabbed it and flipped up the screen with another text from All-Star:

**_Hey sorry if you're sleeping but I just_**

**_Wanted to say sorry for not replying fast enough._**

**_I was kind of tired yesterday. Will you forgive me? :'(_**

I smiled at his message and Mimori giggled, "He's a keeper." I pushed her gently with my finger and she only giggled more.

"Should I reply? It's pretty late." I looked at Mimori for some advice but she was busy braiding my hair again.

"Sure. Sure. Whatever floats your boat Kumi-chan." I laughed and replied back:

**_ It's okay I wasn't really waiting. _**(Total lie I thought)

**_I moved and now I'm living in Tokyo!_**

**_I'm going to attend Seiyo Academy in about 2 days._**

For some reason I felt dirty for dropping a huge bomb like that on him but I wanted to see how he would react. For some reason he didn't reply yet again. Maybe he was tired again but maybe, just maybe, he needed time like everyone else did.

~.!.~

The next morning Mimori woke me up as she struggled to place my pencil, erasers and other school supplies on my desk.

Somehow everything happened to appear in my room while I was sleeping. There were a lot of empty boxes but my stuffed animals were piled up on top of my bookcase. My bookcase was filled with books and old magazines. There were thin baby blue curtains hanging from the window next to my bed and there was a baby blue rug that took up most of the floor. As usual my pictures were taped all over the wall.

I rubbed my eyes and stared at Mimori fix up my cherry-wood desk, "What are you doing Mimori? Just leave it alone I'll do it." She looked at me with a huge smile plastered upon her face and picked up her dress a little bit so she could twirl around freely.

"Guess who called you this morning? Not IMed, texting, or emailing—Calling!" She rushed over to my side and hugged my index finger. I looked down at her and then at my phone which was glowing up on the side table next to my bed.

I snatched the phone off my side table a looked at all of my missed calls. They were all from All-Star. I squealed and jumped off my bed tossing my, suddenly just appeared, blanket to the corner of my bed and started to do the disco dance with Mimori.

"Hehe, I knew you'd be happy! Dreams do come true!" I flipped up my phone as listened we both listened in as the phone rang very slowly.

**! All-Star's POV !**

This time when I texted Dream-Catcher I made sure I was doing it in my room but sadly after I sent my text and got a reply from her, my stupid brother Rento had to come in and confiscate my phone until I went out and bought groceries.

I did it anyways because then I'd have to deal with Kaido if I didn't. Rento looked at my phone then started laughing his way out of my room. I kept wondering what he thought was so funny about a boy and a girl texting each other.

By the time I got my phone back it was already 10 AM the next day. I sighed and flipped open my phone to find Dream-Catcher's text from last night still there:

**_It's okay I wasn't really waiting._**

**_I moved and now I'm living in Tokyo!_**

**_I'm going to attend Seiyo Academy in about 2 days._**

I just sat there on my bed with my raggy hair sticking all over the place. I couldn't stop reading the last line over and over again. Dream-Catcher was going to go my school and better yet, she was in the same grade as me.

I called the number that I always used when I texted her but no one answered. I gave up after 5 tries and walked out my room feeling a bit discouraged.

The smell of eggs, toast, and bacon filled the living room. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw Kaido in a kitchen apron that said 'Kiss the chef'. He glared at me as I took a seat at the dining table. Shusui was reading his book as he took a bite of his eyes. Rento was looking at a mirror as he struggled to fix his bangs. Unkai propped his elbow on the table as he read his manga. So that's probably why Kaido was cooking for today.

I stared at all my brothers who were all into their own things. We never really bothered to hang out anymore. Kaido was usually the one who still knew my existence. He sat down next to me as he flung the apron on the kitchen counter and dung into his breakfast.

I was just about done when Rento glared at the piece of beacon hanging out from my mouth, "Kaido! Kukai got 2 more pieces of beacon than me!" I looked over at Rento with a smirk and stuffed the rest of the beacon up my mouth.

Kaido rolled his eyes and huffed with annoyance, "Rento," He paused as he sighed some more, "You never even touched your breakfast so what are you fussing about? Prissy." Kaido muttered the last part but Rento heard loud and clear.

Unkai and Shusui walked over to their rooms and slammed the doors shut, "Kaido did you just call me a _prissy?" _Rento dragged on the word prissy and placed his mirror on the table, "At least I don't look like I live in the freakin' ghetto."

Kaido slid his chair back and towered over Rento from across the table, "Who lives in the ghetto?"

Rento smirked, "Hmph, what are you deaf too? I said _you live in the ghetto._" I rolled my eyes. This is how every morning started. Rento would say something childish and useless then Kaido would try to beat the pulp out of Rento. I was usually the witness since Unkai and Shusui couldn't take their retarded fights.

I separated them, "Hey Rento nice hair. I just _love_ how you fix it for 2 hours every morning." I gave him a thumbs-up and Kaido laughed so I looked over at him, "Nice muscles bro. Did you go to the gym this morning or what?" I patted his arm. They both sat down and began the calming phase. I sighed and munched on another piece of beacon.

From down the hall I heard my cell phone ringing and I nearly tripped over air as I ran over to my room, "Shit where is that phone?" I ran my fingers through my hair trying to follow the sound of my phone, "Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit~!"

Unkai knocked on my door and came in without my permission, "Yo lil' bro looking for this?" I looked over at him from under my bed and he was holding my cell phone by the soccer ball key chain. I nodded eagerly and he tossed it over, "Sorry I broke my cell phone last week so I borrowed yours to text some of my friends."

I didn't even bother asking him how he broke his phone because before I knew it I pressed the 'Talk' button and silence filled the other end, "Hello?"


	4. A Day of Remembering

**Charlie: Hiya guys~! Today's guest is Ikuto Tsukiyomi~! Please scream~! ^.^  
**

**Ikuto: Yo.**

**Charlie: Ikuto don't you have something better to say than 'Yo'?**

**Ikuto: O.o" Um...Not after what Amu told me.**

**Charlie: Ikuto~! -____- Please, we were just bickering like little children.**

**Ikuto: Really? Well in that case, does not own any material involving Shugo Chara.**

**Charlie: ....Ikuto I was actually hoping to get some dirt on some of the other characters.**

**Ikuto: *Walks out* **

**Charlie: IKUTO GET YOUR NEKO HINNY BACK HERE~! *chases after***

**Charlie: ....Enjoy and peace~!  
**

* * *

**! Normal POV !**

The phone stopped ringing suddenly and a boy answered with a shake in each syllable, "Hello?" I nearly dropped the phone but Mimori pressed the phone to my ear.

I didn't know what to say I was so nervous I wanted to say something! "Uh……" I slapped my face with my free hand and sighed.

I felt him smile on the other line, "Well this is awkward…" I think he was lying on his bed because I could hear springs squeak on the other line.

"Kind of…Sorry, am I acting like a total retard?" I bit on my lip trying not to breathe so hard.

He chuckled, "No you aren't. If anyone of us was a retard it would probably be me." I blushed at his comment. His voice was so smooth and charming. Mimori tried to listen in but she couldn't seem to hear so I set the phone on speaker.

"So…Tomorrow I start school—At Seiyo Academy." This was so awkward. Was it usually this weird talking to strangers?

"Uh yeah…Speaking of which, I don't even know your name." I could hear him sit up with curiosity but I felt like I was having a heart-attack. My name? What was my name? What was it?!

"Uh…Um…Gah…" I stared at Mimori who was sitting criss-cross in front of me gesturing for me to continue talking, "My name's Mimori!" I squeaked and slapped myself again. Why'd I say Mimori?!

"Mimori?" It sounded like he was thinking hard about it, "That's a really pretty name. Mine's Kukai!"

"Kukai…" I took it all in and devoured it, "Kukai…" I stared off in space and Mimori pinched my cheeks really hard, "Ow!"

"What?" He asked a bit worried.

"Oh nothing it's just that my dog bit my finger." I glared at Mimori and she turned her head away innocently.

"Oh cool dogs. Oh hey I got to go to soccer practice. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow." He laughed, "Well I'll be seeing you Mimori." He dragged the name for about 8 syllables and then hung up.

I fell flat on my bed staring up at the ceiling. Tomorrow was supposed to be the best day of my life but now I think it's going to be utter Hell.

~.!.~

That night at the dinner table, which was yet again made of cherry-wood, I tried not to glare at Airi so much. My father had his hand over hers and stared at her like she was a freakin' goddess. Airi wasn't bad I mean she was way too nice. She had rectangular black framed glasses and shiny blue hair. She was slim and her voice was like bells chiming in the wind—she was perfect.

I was mad at my dad for not telling me and for some reason I decided to force my anger on Airi. It was a horrible feeling and Mimori kept whispering in my ear, "Your heart is fading…Smile."

Airi looked at my dad with her pinkish cheeks, "Hiroshi please." She looked at me then slid her hand away from my father's. I couldn't take it anymore and I didn't want my heart to turn to stone especially since I was going to meet Kukai tomorrow.

I slid my chair back and tried my best to smile, "May I be excused?"

My dad was going to say something but Airi cut him off, "Of course. You do have school tomorrow what a lucky girl to be going to school in Tokyo."

I smiled and bowed politely before dashing up to my room and letting Mimori roam freely around my room, "Kumi-chan please be nicer to her." Mimori placed her hands to her chest, "She once had a lovely egg but then it vanished as she forgot who she wanted to be. It is beginning to glow again." She closed her eyes trying to picture the egg.

I felt guilty for being so rude, "Do you know what her dream was?"

Mimori looked at me with an unsure look, "Do you really want to know?" I nodded and she pursued her lips together then sighed, "She wanted to be loved." I opened my door just a bit and my they were having a conversation.

Mimori came up behind me and smacked my head with her foot, "Ow! Mimori what was that for?"

She held her head up high, "Eavesdropping is rude. If you're going to listen in you might as well apologize!" She smirked at me, "Wish, star, shooting star!" I groaned just before the star wand pin appeared on my hair.

I walked down the stairs with my mind yelling at Mimori for suddenly Character Changing with me. My dad and Airi both stared at me shocked but Airi just covered it with a slight smile.

"Kumiko I thought you'd be asleep already. You have school tomorrow, big impressions do count."

I could sense that she felt awkward around me and I did too but Mimori wasn't going to let it slide, "Airi I'm sorry if I've been rude for the past few days. I just want to tell you that I really do like you." I saw Airi's eyes tear up with joy and my father looked at me with a soft face. He was proud of me.

"Well why don't we all go to bed?" Suggested my dad and Airi nodded wiping her eyes with a napkin as we all walked upstairs.

I dashed into my room and banged my head against my door, "Mimori why'd you do that?" Mimori waved her finger at me gesturing for me to quiet down.

When I calmed down we both sat on my bed and looked at my old pictures of my mom and dad. They were so happy wherever they went. If they went to the park they were smiling. If they were on the beach they held hands and smiled. If they were at a carnival they ate cotton candy together and laughed as the camera caught their picture. I wasn't happy about my parent's divorcing but I wasn't exactly mad. I knew they didn't hate each other it was just that they didn't have that spark anymore. That was understandable but what wasn't understandable was that my dad didn't tell his daughter and ex-wife about his girlfriend.

When Mimori was born she explained to me why she was born. My heart dreamed of wanting to protect others and make them happy.

I was little when my parents divorced and I began a phase of lying. So when a teacher was concerned about my social skills and asked me if it was about my parents, I automatically lied. I mean I don't know why I just suddenly lied about it. Maybe it was uncomfortable talking about my parents?

Well Mimori promised me on the day she was born that she would protect me, make me happy, and teach me to protect and make others happy by not lying to myself. All in all I wanted to be able to express myself freely again without having to lie a single second about it. Mimori was my guide and guardian angel.

Mimori brushed my hair with her fingers and told me to look at my vanity mirror, "You see the person in the mirror?" I nodded and she smiled at me through the mirror, "That person is a beautiful person on the inside and outside. She is like a flower all alone in the dark but once she finds light she will find friends who will truly love her for all that she is."

I smiled and stared at the person in the mirror. She had shoulder length brown hair which gleamed in the moonlight. Her face was flawless of zits and acne. The only thing that was missing was a smile that really shined.

I sighed and walked over to my bed while Mimori went over to her egg and began to snore like a banshee. I looked out my window to find stars everywhere. Mimori once told me that the stars were like a tunnel full of eggs that were lost, forgotten, or waiting to be hatched. It was called the Star Cradle. Mimori had stayed there for a while, waiting to be hatched and she said it was lovely to meet all the other Charas.

I smiled and fell to sleep with good thoughts in mind. All those eggs had a home to go to and I was helping them.


	5. Meet the Boy: Kukai Souma

**Charlie: What's up guys? Oh and I want to thank A.T for reviewing my story. Meant a lot to me~!**

**Ikuto: Yeah she wouldn't stop talking about it all night. It was "They like me~! They really like me~!" all night.**

**Charlie: Oh yeah and here's Ikuto... -_____- So Ikuto...Any juicy gossip about you and Amu's scandalous relationship.**

**Ikuto: *Chokes on coffee* Scandalous?! Look here _Charlie, _if that's even your real name-**

**Charlie: Charlie is not my real name Ikuto.**

**Ikuto: *Glares* Whatever, but Amu and I are _not_ having a scandalous relationship or whatever. **

**Charlie: Sure, sure. That's why the next guest will be not only you and Amu but also Tadase~! Do your thing~!**

**Ikuto: -_____- Charlie does not own any material involving Shugo Chara what-so-ever because if she did my life would be Hell.**

**Charlie: Watch your mouth neko I'm a total Amuto fan~!**

**Charlie and Ikuto: Enjoy and peace~!  
**

* * *

It was finally the big day and I woke up 2 hours before I was even supposed to go to school. Lucky for me, Seiyo Academy was only a block away from the school. All I had to do was make a left and walk up a hill until I saw a castle-like school.

Once I showered, brushed, and dressed I still had horrible eye baggage. My face looked paler than it was supposed to be. The plus side was that my hair was shiny, silky, and smooth. My uniform was nicely ironed. I looked kind of cute in it. I mean it consisted of a black and green plaid skirt, a long-sleeved white dress shirt, a black sweater, and black Mary Janes.

I grabbed a clean pair of knee-high white socks and slipped them on my feet as Mimori brushed my black hair, "Kumi-chan you should pin your bangs on top of your hair. Show that beautiful forehead of yours." I nodded a bit busy with perfecting my uniform and she grabbed two hair clips, pinning my bangs back with easy strokes.

I looked at the mirror for one final inspection and I looked pretty good. My hair was long and a bit curly at the end. My uniform was nicely ironed to perfection. My socks and Mary Janes were cleaner than they were when I first bought them. Mimori nodded in satisfaction but I wasn't sure if she was accepting me or the way how my bangs looked so cute being pinned back.

"Well time to go~!" Mimori chimed and let her egg close around her. I gently placed her baby blue egg into my leather shoulder bag.

I peered at the dinner table where Airi and my dad where sitting peacefully eating this breakfast, "Well I'll be going…" I said a bit unsure.

My father looked up at me a bit surprised, "Oh Kumiko when did you wake up?" Airi slapped my dad upside the head.

She smiled at me with gleaming eyes, "Oh Kumiko you look so beautiful today! Maybe I should take some pictures before you leave." She cooed but began to fuss as she scampered around the house trying to find her camera.

I waved my arms around frantically, "No, no! It's okay really! I'll be home in a while!"

She stopped suddenly and looked at me with a smile, "Oh…Okay…Well if you want it that way." She seemed so disappointed.

Mimori popped out from her egg and made her way to my ear, "Wish, star, shooting star!" She whispered.

I brought my shoulder bag over my head so it was wrapped securely over my body, "Okay I'll see you two later! Love you~!" And with that I ran out of the house into a crowd of students with the same uniform as me.

The boys had to wear blue and black plaid pants that went up to their knees but besides that they wore the same things as the girls.

I looked around at all the different students and noticed that they had different groups. I felt so alone but Mimori decided to let me be and continued to rest in her egg.

Once I finally got up the hill, I saw the school for what it really was. It was huge! I mean the castle, or school building, was only 1/6 of the school's land. There was a planetarium, a garden, a forest, a river, and everything that made it seem like a fairy tale land.

I stared in awe at the castle, "Holy shit…" I looked around and everyone was either on my right or left. To make things worse, I was in between the two crowds and everyone was staring at me.

_"Sheesh, who does that girl think she is?" _ I heard a girl mutter.

_"Is she new or something? What does she think she's doing?"_ A few boys discussed.

_"Disgraceful." _Muttered a group of girls and boys.

I looked around and noticed a group of boys and girls walking towards me with superior in every step. There was something different about them. Was it the capes they wore? Was it the confidence they wore so well? Well something was up because Mimori popped out from her egg again and floated by my side with wide eyes, "Kumi-chan they're Egg Bearers. Be careful."

I stared at all of them with even more awe than I had with the buildings. There were 5 of them. There was a blonde boy with a bit of a charming face, a girl with pink hair and an indifferent face, a girl with brown pig tails tied up with red ribbons who smiled constantly, a boy with long dark blue hair who I would've mistaken for a girl, and a small girl with curly blonde hair who looked inferior.

I looked at them even more closely and there they were. Their charas were showing themselves freely. I stood back a bit feeling nervous. If I could see their charas surely they could see Mimori.

The blonde boy's chara whispered into his ear and then as if it was practiced, they all looked at me one by one. My knees felt like jelly. This was the first time I'd be confronted by other Egg Bearers.

The pink haired girl's indifferent grin turned into a warm smile as she whispered something into the blonde boy's ear. He nodded and then they all strode right past me, leaving the pink girl smiling at me.

_"Oh my gosh, Hinamori Amu is going to talk to her! How lucky is she?" _One of the girls from earlier whispered.

_"Wah~! Cool and spicy Hinamori Amu is so cool~!"_ Said a few others.

And just like that everyone left leaving me staring wide-eyed at the so called Hinamori Amu.

She still smiled at me with an intense amount of interest, "What's your name?"

I began to flush and stutter, "F-Futari K-Kumiko!" I squealed. Way to go Kumiko. I stared over at Amu's shoulder and 3 charas were smiling at me. I gasped in shock and pointed rudely at her shoulder, "You have 3 charas! T-That's…A lot!" I felt so stupid for stating the obvious and ending it with 'A lot'.

She laughed putting her head down a bit then looked up at me again, "So you are an Egg Bearer. Is that her right there?" She pointed at a lock of my hair which Mimori hid behind.

I nodded and swept the lock of hair over my shoulder to reveal Mimori, "This is Mimori. Um…We're kind of new…"

She laughed again, "I can see that but it seems like you're a grade above me. Sadly none of my friends are in junior high—yet. But I do know someone who could help with to—" Before Amu could finish her sentence a boy with brown hair that stuck out from different sides began to run over to us. He must've been in a hurry. I noticed he was wearing the same thing as me except for the boys.

He waved his arms in the air frantically, "Amu! Hey long time no see!" He ran over to us and panted a bit before speaking again, "Yo." I watched a bit awkward as he threw his arm around Amu's shoulder and gave her a noogie. Her hair looked horrible after.

She pushed him aside playfully and laughed when she saw my reaction, "Oh I'm sorry! This is Kukai Souma, he's in the same grade as you." I stared at the boy with shock as Mimori rushed to hide behind my hair once again. His hair was sticking out all over the place, his uniform was wrinkled, his white dress shirt had several dirt marks and it was sticking out, he has both of his ears pierced with silver studs. This was Kukai.

"I-I-I…Uh…" I blushed a deadly shade of scarlet and hid my face behind my hair.

Amu looked at me confused, "Um…This is Futari Kumiko. Please be nice to her Kukai." From under my hair Amu looked at him with a scolding look.

Kukai laughed and bent down a bit so he was eye to eye with me, "Eh? Why are you so red?" I swear I thought I was steaming up but no one but me seemed to notice.

I turned stood up flipping my hair over my shoulders and making sure my bangs were still nicely pinned on the top of my head, "Hi I'm Futari Kumiko. Please assist me with getting around the school." I bowed and hid my sizzling face.

He laughed and hung his head back a bit, "Sure, sure. Though I was waiting for someone…" Amu and I looked up at him with a questionable face. He seemed out of it and deep in thought when he finally noticed us, "Oh…It's nothing. It's this girl who's also supposed to be coming to school today. I got all dolled up just for her…"

I didn't think this was possible but my face got redder but I just turned my face to the side until it cooled down, "Eh? Kukai's got a girlfriend? Who is she?" Asked Amu with and eager yet playful face.

He pushed her a bit, "That's for me to know and for you to find out." He teased. He then stared at me for a second and raised his eyebrow, "So you're the newbie, huh? Daichi was bugging me all day about you. Where's your chara?"

I blushed again and tried to focus my attention on something else besides his face, "She's here but I don't know if she wants to meet you…" I pursed my lips and kicked a pebble that was next to my foot.

For a minute or so it was silent. Not even Amu decided to pitch in and add a playful comment. Then a small voice yelled, "Eh? Kukai got shot down!" Everyone looked up and stared at Kukai's shoulder and we all laughed. A chara in with bluish greenish hair and a star sweatband sat on Kukai's shoulder. He had a bright yellow t-shirt, white shorts, and a worn out pair of tennis shoes.

"Hello everyone, since Daichi has revealed himself so shall I. Name's Mimori." Mimori pushed past my hair as if it was one of those bead curtains. I looked at her as she sat on my shoulder blushing.

Kukai bent down and looked at Mimori with a confused face, "Hi Mimori, I'm Kukai and this is Daichi. I know someone named Mimori, in fact she was the girl I was waiting for. Funny." He stuck out his index finger for Mimori to shake and she reached out gently to shake it with hesitation.

"I've heard a lot about you Kukai and I'm sure the girl you're looking for is just around here somewhere." She giggled and looked up at my blushing face.

"Oh well I better get going! Tadase is going to get worried and I don't want Rima to get into another fight with Nagihiko." Amu ran towards the woods leaving me and Kukai to stare at each other. Talk about awkward.

"So I guess we should start making our way to homeroom." He swung his shoulder bag over his shoulder and starting walking ahead, looking at me once in a while.

Well this sucked.


	6. Run Away Star: On the Move

**Charlie: Konichiwa my fellow Shugo Chara fans~! Today we will have three guests instead of one. Like my mom says "The more the merrier." or in this case, "The more the scarier."**

**Amu: _Haha_ very funny.**

**Ikuto: ......**

**Tadase: Wow this is my first time here. It's delightful. *inspecting the room***

**Amu and Ikuto: For reals? **

**Charlie: Now, now. Don't spoil his fun. So...Tadase do you know about the scandalous relationship between Ikuto and Amu?**

**Ikuto: -___- Not this again.**

**Amu: What do you mean _again?_**

**Tadase: Scandalous relationship? I prefer not to talk about it...*Teary eyes***

**Charlie: ....Tadase be a man and show some guts for goodness sakes~! Stop with the lovey dovey, puppy eye, dingle shit and show some manliness.**

**Tadase: C-Can you give me another day to think about this? *puppy eyes***

**Ikuto and Amu: ......No comment**

**Charlie: Well we're running out of time so you're lucky this time Tadase. Count yourself lucky~!**

**Tadase: Charlie does not own any material involving Shugo Chara because then Ikuto *glares* would end up with Amu...**

**Charlie: Whatever. Enjoy and peace~!  
**

* * *

For some reason I felt as if Kukai didn't want to be seen with me. I mean I didn't have any evidence but, if the guy who was supposed to escort you for the day had totally ditched you to hang out with his friends isn't evidence, then I don't know what it is.

Mimori stayed by my side plucking a flower, "He loves, he loves me not. He loves me, he loves me not." She stared at the last petal as it floated down to the pavement, "Oh dear this is not quite right." She rushed over to grab another flower when I stuffed her into my school bag.

Goodness gracious, Mimori acts as if a floating object isn't scary to non-Egg Bearers. Plus what was her deal with the fake love tests?

"Mimori do you have a crush on someone?" She peeked at me from my bag and she blushed.

"No~! Besides who would I have a crush on?" She held her head up high thinking it would make her look tough.

"Oh I don't know…Daichi?" She blushed and rapidly went into hiding inside her egg.

I finally found my homeroom without the help of Kukai. Honestly I imagined my 1st day to be a bit…Shall I say it? Lovey dovey.

I opened the sliding door and everyone turned their attention to me, "Well class put down your pencils. This is the new student Futari Kumiko and yet she decides to show up 10 minutes late. Please introduce yourself." I looked nervously at the teacher who was definitely going on my list of 'assholes' and then to the class who gawked at me with their wide eyes.

_"Hah, I saw her this morning with Kukai-sama and he _totally_ ditched her."_ Whispered a girl in the back to her friend, talk about ouch.

_"Psh, didn't anyone bother to show her around? Now she's interrupting _my_ studying."_ Muttered a boy somewhere in the room.

_"You rarely study anyways so stop nagging. She's hot and that's all that matters."_ Replied someone but I just blanked out staring at all these people.

The worst part was that Kukai was staring at me. It was as if he would find it very amusing to see me crack and fall apart. It hurt so badly.

I didn't know what else to do so I ran out of the room almost falling on my way out. This rarely happened but I was sobbing the time I got to the garden. I wanted to hide or dig a hole of some kind but no such luck. I wandered through the forest thinking that no one would disturb me there.

Mimori floated by my side trying to bring my black hair over my shoulders so it wouldn't be soaked by my sobs, "Oh Kumi-chan you know that wasn't a good idea. Why are you so emotional all of a sudden?"

I found it comforting the way her voice seemed to make everything better but now was not the time, "Go away Mimori~!" I yelled and dashed off farther into the woods.

When I looked back Mimori wasn't anywhere to be seen. Worst of all was that I was now crying in front of an old building covered in ivy. I opened the door to the old building and inside laid a galaxy of stars, a planetarium.

"Are you lost young one?" I jumped as a man in a white jacket that covered a bit of his neck. His white pants were a bit high but looked like low-riders? If I wasn't so depressed I would've been scared shitless at this janitor guy.

I looked around me confused if he was talking to me, "Me?" I pointed to my chest and wiped my face with my now soaked sweater.

"Well we are the only ones here. What has gotten you so lost?" He took a seat on one of the planetarium chairs and placed one leg over the other, smiling at me non-other less. In a way he resembled the blonde boy from earlier. Were they related?

He gestured for me to sit next to him so I did but cautiously, "Today was my first day here and well…I didn't exactly fit in or 'make a good impression'." I sank down into the chair focusing my attention to the stars up above.

"No one is perfect. In fact I'm sure you made a good impression on somebody." He was shuffling a deck of cards which just happened to appear out of nowhere. He held the cards in my face like a fan "Pick a card." I did so and the jack of diamonds rested in my palm.

"Are you going to do a magic trick?" I asked with confusion. What was this guy?

He examined my card and stared at the star, "Seems as though you've impressed a Jack. I suggest you find out who that is." He patted my hand and slipped the card out of my hand, "He'll be looking for you young one. Don't give up." He smiled once again and pushed me out the planetarium.

I looked back and there it stood still old and abandoned but it did have a meaning. I blocked my eyes from the sun's glare and looked around for someone. No one was here except me.

My face was soaked in salty tears and my hair was an absolute mess. I brushed my hair out of my face and repined my hair, "Jack? What did he mean by Jack?" Not having a care in the world I began to walk back into the forest and noticed, a bit late, that my bag wasn't with me. I was so screwed.

I looked around frantically but there wasn't a leather bag in sight and I didn't even know where I was. Either way I continued my trip back to school.

The school was just ahead after I squeezed, bent, crouched, and jumped over the different obstacles in the forest. I sighed with a relief and decided to take a quick nap against a tree. Too bad my plans were interrupted.

~.!.~

**! Kukai's POV !**

The new girl walked into our class ten minutes late and sadly our homeroom teacher wasn't exactly the nicest teacher. After Mr. Nishimura totally bagged on her tardiness, which I thought was a bit harsh, everyone started bagging on her with whispers. Apparently she noticed that too and for some reason she looked at me with a pleading look for help. What was I suppose to do? Pull down the fire alarm just so she'll get away with her first day? No way.

I could see tears starting to form in her eyes and I just wanted to go up there and tell everyone to shut the fuck up but I just couldn't, even if she was a fellow Egg Bearer. And as if she heard my thoughts out loud, she dashed out the classroom door knocking down Mr. Nishimura's podium.

He scrambled to the floor trying to gather all his important documents but glared every once in a while at the door.

I sat back in my chair trying to take everything in, "Damn." I muttered as I looked out the window to see her green and black skirt swishing all over the place. Mimori followed after her with a good amount of speed and both of them vanished into the forest, "Damn." I muttered once more.

I turned around and everyone was looked at me surprised. I looked forward and both my friends were gawking at me too.

_"Eh?! Kukai-kun has a crush on the new girl? Impossible~!" _Whined a girl from the back-row.

_"Shut up! Kukai-kun would never like a girl like that! She cried in front of the whole class!" _Screeched another girl from somewhere in the middle.

I raised my eyebrow at my friends Kashino and Takashi who were both smirking at me, "Eh? Kukai's got an eye out for the new girl. Did ya hear that Takashi?" I rolled my eyes and fiddled with my silver studs.

"Really? I thought Kukai had a real _special_ thing for that Hinamori girl in the grade below." I leaned forward and smacked Takashi on the shoulder.

"Whatever." I muttered with a playful grin. No way did I like Amu like that and now way did I like Kumiko that way either. I leaned back deeper into my seat and felt eyes pierce through me as I fiddled with my stud, "What's everyone looking at?" I totally cracked and everyone stared for another second and then returned to their work.

Mr. Nishimura was too busy alphabetically rearranging his paperwork that he didn't mind whatever we did. Thinking this was the perfect time I shoot up from my desk and threw my bag over my shoulder, "Got some Guardian business to attend to boys. Give me the notes tomorrow morning." I winked at Takashi and Kashino who both groaned in harmony.

I walked over to Mr. Nishimura and he looked up at me from the floor, "What now Souma?" He stood up and placed his papers on his podium.

"Guardian business, sir." I stood tall and even gave him a grin.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "Souma you're in junior high now. You aren't a Guardian anymore."

I ran my fingers through my hair, "The current Guardians need my help with some paperwork and I believe I need to help arrange a social party." Damn I was good.

He sighed then flipped his hand towards me gesturing approval. I smiled and dashed out the room.

"Skipping class to be with the new girl?" Daichi appeared by my side and surprisingly I actually smiled.

"You bet!"

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys I just wanted to do this like you know 'Last Word' thing so yeah. Um...In the last chapter (I think) I said Amu had 3 charas when I really meant 4 lolz~! Okay so Dia will be in this series. Just letting you guys know. Yeah so that's about it~! Buh Bye and peace~!**


	7. The Lost Get Found

**Charlie: Hey ya'll~! What's up? Kk so this chapter is really short sorry...  
**

**Ikuto: Thanks for stating the obvious.  
**

**Charlie: Well sorry for preparing my readers for what's to come~!  
**

**Ikuto: Speaking of which, don't you have something to say to the readers?  
**

**Charlie: Yeah...Hey guys sorry there hasn't been all that much lovey-dovey but I don't really want to make it like other stories where they just like go right into the romance so yeah. Please bare with me. Kukai and Kumiko will be together very shortly~! Lolz I just noticed that Kumiko and Kukai both start with K's~!**

**Ikuto: Right, right. Good for you. Anyways, Charlie does not own any material that involves Shugo Chara cuz then the manga wouldn't have ended so quickly.**

**Charlie: You bet cha~!**

**Ikuto and Charlie: Enjoy and Peace~!  
**

* * *

**! After School: Kumiko's POV !**

I sat up and felt a sharp pain in my back, "Oh God!" I placed my hand to my forehead and looked around me. For starters there was a waterfall behind me and around it was a nice selection of flowers. On the upper part of the greenhouse was a glass table and 5 tables, basically a little garden house for rich people to have tea and dilly-dally all day long.

"Looks like the newbie finally woke up." I shot up from my kneeling position and braced myself. I softened after I saw that it was Kukai, Amu, and the other people in capes standing in front of the entrance.

I blushed, "How'd I get here?" I looked around and wanted to run away but they were blocking the entrance.

"Well-" Kukai and the others strode past me to the glass table and each took a seat. As Amu passed me she opened my palm and dropped something in it. I looked at it there was Mimori's baby blue egg. I gently traced the golden wings which have seemed to have lost their spark and felt so responsible for this. I was.

"Eh~! I wanted chocolate cake Nagi-kun~! We had mochi yesterday~!" Whined the girl with pig tails tied up with red ribbons.

"Yaya sit down and shut up. Be thankful we even have food after our little _accident_ last week." The short blonde glared daggers at Yaya who decided to quietly take a seat and chew slowly on her mochi.

"Rima be nicer to Yaya and, maybe just maybe, I'll refill your cup of tea." The long blue-haired shim gave her a gentle smile which Rima returned with a loud pound of her fist meeting the table.

"Wench I can just pour myself some tea and besides I don't know where those cross-dressing hands have been." She sipped her cup of tea as she flipped a page of her comedy manga, "Pervert." She muttered.

"Excuse me? Did shorty just call me a pervert?" He leaned over the table letting their faces meet inches away from each other. I was obviously sensing some chemistry between those two.

"Nagihiko, Rima stop it. I think you're scary Kumiko." Amu walked up the few amount of stairs and took a seat next to the blonde guy.

Kukai cleared his throat, "Well-"

"Commoners bow before me!" A voice had suddenly boomed from the blonde guy's shoulder and everyone sighed with irritation. I'm guessing this is a daily routine.

"Kiseki stop talking for once-dechu." A babyish chara dressed in pink appeared from behind Yaya's shoulder and continued to suck on her pacifier as she rolled her eyes.

"I, the king, shall not be discriminated. Tadase say something." Replied the kingly looking chara next to, the now revealed, Tadase.

"Kiseki please calm down." Tadase shut his eyes close like a robot then opened them with a gentle face plastered on his face. Was that a real face?

"Kusukusu," Was that a laugh?! "Pepe and Kiseki are fighting again." A chara with a clownish appearance appeared from behind Rima's shoulder.

"Kusukusu don't start." Rima sipped her tea again with a focused face as if nothing else seemed interesting.

"Well as I was-" Kukai decided to start up again but he was interrupted by 4 voices.

"Eh? The new Egg Bearer. I'm Ran!" A pink chara with a cheerleader outfit floated above Amu's head.

"Nice to meet you-desu. I'm Su." A green chara with a housemaid outfit floated to the right of Amu. She bowed and smiled at me.

"I'm Miki." A blue chara with an artist outfit stared at me with an indifferent look like Amu had earlier.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Dia, the last chara of Amu-chi." An orange chara and a futuristic outfit floated in front of Amu's face.

"Um…I guess that leaves me." Nagihiko didn't looked all that excited about showing his chara.

"Yo, yo, yo! I'm Rhythm." A chara that looked just like Nagi but with more of a hip-hop outfit appeared from behind Nagi's head and started to break-dance. I sweat-dropped as I watched the chara 'show his moves' on the glass table. I looked over at Nagi and he was grinning just a bit but you could tell he was amused.

"Whoa…" I muttered as all of the different charas were out in the open. Everyone laughed at my comment but Kukai and I were the only ones not laughing. I stared down at my egg and Mimori still hadn't bothered to come out. Was she mad at me?

I looked up and Kukai was staring at me, "She helped me find you," His face softened a bit as if he felt sorry for me, "And your bag." He pulled my school bag out from behind him and tossed it over to me. I didn't catch it on time and it ended up in the water fountain. I gasped but for some reason I just didn't care anymore so I just left it in the fountain to soak.

Amu got up from her seat and grabbed my bag out from the fountain, "Su do you think you could fix this? Sorry if I'm asking too much."

Amu looked at Su with pleading eyes but Su didn't seem too bothered to fix my bag, "Chip, syrup, whip!" All of a sudden a flow of this golden-honey substance swirled around my bag. Once the substance disappeared my bag was dry and somewhat shiny.

I hugged my bag to my chest and thanked Amu, "So Kukai you were saying?" He was in the middle of eating a mochi ball and looked at me surprised.

"Oh…" He devoured the mochi, "Right. These are the Guardians." She gestured to everyone in capes. Apparently Amu was a Guardian too, "They help the school society and basically everything else. Oh and we purify x-eggs." He grabbed another mochi ball and sat down on the stairs.

I fiddled with the shoulder strap of my bag, "Purify x-eggs?" I rolled on the balls of my feet a bit nervous but Kukai seemed to lighten up.

He chewed on his mochi ball, "Don't tell me you haven't tried it before." The others nodded simultaneously.

"Oh I have…But I don't know if…" I stared at my closed egg that seemed to lose its sparkle.

Somehow Kukai made his way to my side without me knowing and placed his arm around my shoulder, "Don't worry she was helping me earlier. I'm sure she's just a little bit mad." He made it seem less important but it was—to me.

"I hope so…" I cradled the little egg in my hands totally missing the part where Kukai had me rest my head on his shoulders as we sat on the steps.

"Ooh~ look another scandalous relationship for Kukai-sama. Isn't this the 15th one this week?" I shot my head up from Kukai's shoulder and hit his chin. He pressed his hand to his chin as the others were laughing, especially Yaya who wiggled her eyebrows. That's just wrong.

I stood up and brought my shoulder strap around my head, "Well I should get going. My dad would get really mad if he found out I was hanging out with a molester." I stormed off the school campus and into the streets in no time. Gosh would I kill to see the look on their faces.

"Hey Kumiko!" I could tell this wasn't a guy's voice so I risked it and turned around. Amu was running towards me with Yaya and Rima by her side.

I waved back and looked at how cute they looked. No wonder they were so popular, "Why'd you guys come out?"

Amu and the others just watched the red hand blink continuously, "No we'd just thought that the new girl would like some company." She giggled and Yaya giggled but Rima stayed quiet.

I leaned over to Amu and whispered into her ear, "What's up with Rima? Does she hate me?"

Amu looked at me as though I was crazy, "Oh no! Of course not, Rima just prefers to stay quiet."

I nodded and looked over at Yaya who was bouncing to the melody coming from the crossing-box thing, "Well Amu-chan I got to go~! Baby brother is waiting for Yaya-chan~!" Yaya crossed the street and waved happily over to us before she disappeared behind a corner.

"Amu call me tonight. I got to go too." Rima looked at Amu with a smile and just looked at me with a plain face, "See you tomorrow…Futari." With that she ran to a black car with such slow speed.

I looked at Amu who was looking at the school and there I saw _it._ I turned around trying to remember if I had to go left or right. This seemed to have just flowed out of my head when I needed it most.

"Amu! Wait up for me." Kukai came running towards us again and with pace. I ran down the street barely missing a car and down the hill to my right. Amu looked at me as I ran down the hill and I mouthed an apology. She nodded with confusion but stopped staring at me when Tadase, Kukai, and Nagihiko caught up with her.

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**A/N: Hey guys sorry this chapter is like UBER DUPER short~! I didn't mean to but I was like super lazy and stuff. I think I've got writter's block or something. Idk but I'll try to update more. Lolz and I pretty much update every night cuz I don't have a life *sniff sniff* but if you guys are happy so am I~! Thanks and tune in for the next chapter soon (or tomorrow; or for future readers, just go to the next chapter already lolz).**


	8. The Relationships Are Coming Together

**Charlie: Hey guys~! Kk so hopefully this chapter is longer. I'd like it if you guys would start posting up suggestions or stuff. I don't mind a bit of criticism.**

**Yaya: *Pouting* Hey I thought you'd give me free cake if I was your guest for this thing!**

**Charlie: Yaya I'm sorry but I don't have cake and I don't know who told you that.**

**Yaya: *Slamming the table* I wrote down what you said Charlie! I wrote it all down!**

**Charlie: Put your money where your mouth is Yaya.**

**Yaya: Eww....I don't like eating money...Is it candy?**

**Charlie: *Slaps forehead* Yes Yaya, it's cotton candy money. Psh, like that even exists.**

**Yaya: Hmph, Yaya doesn't like being tricked! Maybe Yaya will get a bonus if she says the disclaimer? **

**Charlie: Sure......**

**Yaya: Charlie does not own any material involving Shugo Chara....Is that it?**

**Charlie: Yes Yaya~! Thanks for doing the disclaimer for free~! So fan please enjoy and peace~!**

**Yaya: Ehhhhhh? No cake?!  
**

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I was lying on my bed, rolling or turning every once in a while, "I can't believe I'm going to say this but…Kukai…I…He's so weird~!" I shook my head and stared up at the ceiling.

I looked over at my desk where Mimori's egg sat lifeless. I felt so bored and lonely without her. Why won't she come out?

I sat up and fluffed my hair a bit, "Mimori please come out. I'm sorry for yelling at you but you can't leave me." I sighed and laid back down on my bed.

"You called?" I sat up abruptly and Mimori was rubbing her eyes as if she had a great slumber, "Sorry I left you, I was really tired." She floated to my bed and took a seat next to me, kinda avoiding my gaze.

"Tired? Psh, you were mad at me. Admit it Mimori, it's not good to lie when you're suppose to prevent me from doing so." I grabbed one of my several pillows and hugged it close to my chest.

"Don't nag at me." She wined at she laid down with a tiny umph and kicked her legs up into the air.

"You're being the baby." I mumbled with pouty lips like Yaya.

"You're being the baby!" She kicked her legs again.

"No you are!" I whined.

"You are!" She once again, kicked her legs and snorted like a horse.

A knocked gently knocked at my door, "Kumiko are you okay? You father is worried because we keep hearing you yell at yourself…" It was Airi and I decided to let it go. It wasn't her fault that my dad used his _charms _against her.

I sat up still clutching the pillow to my chest, "Yeah I'm sorry for yelling so much. I'm just reading a book I was assigned today." Hopefully my school didn't call my house about my _fit._

"Well about school Kumiko, your father wants to talk to you downstairs. Do you think you can do that?"

Before I could answer my dad yelled, "It's not _do you think_, it's come down right now this instant young lady!" I sighed and looked at Mimori with pleading eyes **'_Help me'_** I thought.

She shrugged, "Don't worry Kumi-chan. You'll be okay; I'll be by your side the whole time." She nodded and I got up from my bed opening the door very slowly.

Airi was staring at me with her rectangular black framed glasses, "Well your father's downstairs…Sounds bad. What did you do Kumiko?" She followed me down the stairs and yet I wondered the same question. _What did I do?_

My dad was sitting at the dining table running his fingers through his dark brown hair. His glasses were on the tip of his nose and he looked really concerned over something. Once he saw me asked gestured for me to sit in the seat next to him so I did but only because Mimori was next to me, "Kumiko do you have any idea as to why your school called me during my meeting today?"

A big lump formed in my throat as I slouched deeper into the cherry-wood chair, "Dad if it's about the meeting-"

He raised his hand to stop me, "Kumiko," he said with his eyes closed, "It's not the meeting I'm worried about. I'm worried about you." He opened his big brown eyes and stared at me with questions flowing out of them every second.

**_What were you doing? Who are you? Where's my sweet daughter? Are you really 12 years old? What the heck did I do to deserve this? Are you hearing any of this? _**The questions kept flowing towards me and I could feel tears forming but I had to hold them in.

"Dad I'm sorry but the people in that school a-are whack jobs!" I raised my arms up for a emphasis and my father raised his eyebrow. He looked over at Airi who was making some coffee but I knew all too well that she was listening.

He turned his attention to me, "Listen here kiddo, I understand you've had a rough first day but-"

I cut him off again, "Rough?" I leaned forward and shook my head wildly, "It was beyond rough dad! People were talking behind my back, the guy who was supposed to escort me ditched me for his friends and I don't know what to think about him now! Oh and did I mention that there's this freaky janitor guy who plays cards in the planetarium?" I began to laugh like a maniac as my dad and Airi watched in horror.

My dad looked back at Airi who was gaping, "Boy troubles? Do you think you can take over Airi? I'll be in my room trying to forge a doctor's note saying my daughter is allergic to boys. Haha that'll work!" My dad ran his fingers through his hair again and placed his glasses back up his nose.

I watched in horror as he walked up the stairs almost tripping while he was muttering **_'Allergic to boys! Brilliant Hiroshi!'_**

Airi took a seat next to me as she cupped her coffee cup gently, "Boy troubles? What's his name?" She winked at me, "I won't tell."

I smiled at her and sat back in my chair, "Kukai Souma. He's in the same class but…He's so…Weird?"

She sipped her cup as she nodded thoughtfully, "Is that a question or statement Kumiko? I understand you though." She looked up at the stairs, "Your father was a piece of work alright but that won me over in a split second."

I raised my eyebrow, "My dad's inner geek won you over?" Mimori slapped the back of my head but she was laughing like a lunatic.

Airi looked around confused, "Did you hear something?" She peered out the window just to be sure.

"Um…No?" I looked at Mimori who smiled with delight as she mouthed **_'I'll tell you later.'_**

Airi sat back in her seat and sighed, "I know this is off topic and all but do you believe in angels?"

I stared at her and she was dead-serious, "Yeah. I mean I'm basically surrounded by them all the time." I looked at Mimori who was taking a taste of Airi's coffee with her finger. I glared at her and she stopped after 5 finger-spoons.

"I see…" She looked at me with a dazed look, "I used to have a guardian angel. I'm not supposed to say this but there are angels out there Kumiko. They come from your hearts wants and dreams. Beautiful things they are. Everyone has them. Sadly I lost mine's a long time ago." She took another sip of her coffee letting it linger on her tongue for a while, "This coffee tastes dirty all of a sudden." Her forehead wrinkled as she stood up to pour the coffee down the sink.

"Airi have you ever heard of a chara?" She paused from sinking the last bit of her coffee down the sink to stare at me.

"E-excuse me?" She scurried over to sit back down in her chair and eyed me for a while, "You have one don't you?" She asked after quite a while.

I was a little shocked at her sudden comment and turned to Mimori for advice, "Um…" Mimori nodded, "Sure."

Mimori floated to my side and whispered into my ear, "She already knows about them. The weird part is that she still remembers since she's an adult, maybe because her egg is calling to her again."

"Well just saying I did have a _chara_," She quoted the word chara, "It was a long time ago and I just felt so alone in the world. My father died early and well my mom gave me over to my aunt. Aunt was nice and all but she wasn't home all the time. I felt so lonely and empty." She stared off into her own little dream.

"So she was born one day while your Aunt was out?" I stared deeply into her eyes as if I could somehow relate to her but I couldn't. My dad was always there for me but my mom…My mom was always somewhere doing something. She just had to travel and explore, leaving her only daughter to strive by herself.

Airi nodded and placed her hand on her chest, "I can feel her now. She's searching for me but she won't come back until I gain my hope again." She looked at me with gleaming eyes, "As you can see, your father brought me some love. After that one meeting everything seemed to lighten up. I can hear Suki cheering me on."

Just as this perfect bond was starting to mend into my heart, there was a vicious tapping at the window. I looked up and there was an egg staring at us. At the sight of me it shrieked and ran off, weird how it didn't want to mock me anymore.

She got up from her seat and patted me on the head, "Sorry we couldn't talk about Kukai but I feel like this talk has gotten us closer as well." She leaned in and kissed my forehead and I did the same except I had to stand on my tippy-toes.

~.!.~

The next morning I woke up to 3 text messages. Mimori had already hung up my clothes in the bathroom so it wasn't hard getting ready this morning. As usual, Mimori begged to do my hair and today's style was a nice green headband (to match my school uniform) with green ribbons coming down from the sides of the headband. The ribbons were all mixing into my hair so it looked pretty cute.

I decided that this would be a good time to check my messages since Mimori was fixing my hair.

**_Message 1- From: All Star  
Hey Mimori, I haven't seen you in school yet. I'm kind of waiting  
for you. Text me back. I miss your cute texts._**

I snorted at his text but saved it so I could reply to it later. I didn't want to make Dream-Catcher a meanie.

**_ Message 2- From: Baby-Gurl  
Kumi-chan could you plz bring Yaya-chan some cookies?  
I'm scared of what Nagi-kun will bring next! O.o  
Yaya-chan and Pepe-chan thank you._**

I laughed at her message and decided to bring her some cookies from the cabinet downstairs.

**_ Message 3- From: Hinamori Amu  
Hey Kumiko, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out  
with me and the rest of the Guardians after school.  
We feel that you belong with us and plus Yaya told me  
you owe her some cookies?_**

I smiled thoughtfully at her message.

I came downstairs a few minutes early and kissed both my dad and Airi on the cheek, "Sorry I can't have breakfast with you guys but I gotta go." I grabbed a piece of toast snuck a box of cookies in to my bag then dashed to the door only to be stopped by my dad.

"Play nice kiddo." He winked at me and Airi gave me a final hug.

There was the usual mob of students crowding the hill on the way up. To make things worse, two girls from my class were mocking me from behind.

_"Oh my gosh do you think Kukai takes an interest in the newbie type?"_ The girl made her voice sound scared and nervous by making it shake with every syllable.

_"Oh dear…I don't think so. How about desperate?"_ The girl laughed liked some old grandma as she dragged her laughs and pretty soon everyone around me was laughing—at me not with me.

"Yo, Kumiko!" An arm wrapped around my shoulders and I could feel his slow breathing next to my ear, "How's my favorite newbie?"

All the girls were pouting and whining like little babies. If I didn't like Yaya so much I would've said there were having a Yaya.

I pushed his arm off my shoulder and glared at him, "Would you keep your body parts off me? There's a new thing called personal space and it was created, oh I don't know, before Jesus was born?" I stomped up the hill in a hurry.

Behind me I could hear people yelling and whispering about my _'Big Mistake'._

What right did he have to touch me like that? Even if he was trying to help me out I didn't need _his_ help.

Mimori was trying to catch up to me so I waited and suffered being yelled at her, "Kumi-chan what was that? Okay sure you really didn't want his help but at least say thank you or something!" She went into her sitting position as she floated behind me.

"I don't know…I mean I want to protect people and all but…It's hard when I can barely trust these people."

Mimori patted my shoulder and nodded, "I understand. Everyone and everything need time."

~.!.~

Class had started and believe it or not, I was the first one in class this morning. Okay so maybe heading, or rather running, to my homeroom wasn't really cutting it.

I felt so awkward I mean especially since I was so stupid not to realize yesterday that the only empty desk left was behind Kukai. Oh the agony! Oh it's not about sitting behind him it's sitting _near _him! After this morning I would think he'd stay mad at me forever but boy was I wrong. He wouldn't stop turning around to check on me.

He'd give me these, sorta cute, thumbs-up when I got the questions correct and when I didn't he'd wink at me.

People were looking at me and I did not like to drag in that kind of attention. During the whole class, while Kukai was too busy jotting down notes, girls would hit me behind the head with crumpled paper rocks. I finally got used to it and caught every single one they threw at me without looking. Some of them even had dirty notes written in them.

The horror had finally ceased but only for 5 minutes. The lunch bell rang and everyone dashed out of the room. Kukai and his friends, Takashi and Kashino I think, were taking their precious time gathering their stuff.

I packed my stuff up with the same pace as them and noticed that Kukai was really into sports. He wasn't just a jock, he was a smart jock. Not only did he wink at me when I got an answer wrong, he'd show me how he got his and try to explain it quickly before Mr. Nishimura wrote the next set of problems on the board.

After packing he secretly gestured for his friends to go on, which I saw completely, and stared at me as I slowly drew my pencil case closer to my bag.

He stared at my slow movements and finally had enough of it, "Oh give me that!" He gently jerked my pencil case away from me and placed it in my bag then zipped my bag's zipper, "Okay let's go." He nodded over to the door.

I stared at him with confusion, "Don't make plans thinking I'd be free just because I'm the _newbie_." I swung my shoulder strap over my head and started to walk to the door with Kukai following after me like a puppy, "Will you stop it? Don't you see what the girls are doing? They hate me enough and I don't want them thinking the wrong thing especially when it involves you! Anyone but you would be okay!"

I slid the door open and he shut it closed, pinning me to the wall. He leaned in towards me with a serious look in his eyes, "What's wrong with me? What don't you like about me? Have I done something to make you hate me?"

I tried to slip away from his but my body wouldn't move. He was being a bit too aggressive and I was totally shocked. Neither Daichi nor Mimori decided to do anything, instead they stayed in their eggs were they thought it was safe.

I took a good look at Kukai's eyes trying to see if he was joking me but instead I found his eyes to be the prettiest things I've ever seen, they were wonderful greens. I felt as if they were his best feature then next would definitely be his smile.

"K-Kukai…You have pretty eyes." I suddenly found myself blurting this out and covered my mouth with the sleeves of my sweater, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" I bowed and hit his forehead once again. Shit, twice in once week!

"Oww?" He placed his hand to his forehead and grinned at me with his natural play-boyish smile, "So I have nice eyes? Sorry to say but that's already been said a few times too many." I was still pinned against the wall but I didn't seem to care.

I narrowed my eyes a bit, "Don't try fishing comments out of me Souma." I mumbled and to my surprise he stepped back from the wall.

"That's what I like about you Futari. You act all tough but you're really a softy." He leaned his upper-half towards me with a teasing gleam in his eyes.

I pushed him back, "I'm not a softy!" I looked up at the clock and then back at him, "Aren't you going to eat lunch?" Didn't he play sports and didn't they need to eat a lot?

He raised his eyebrow, "Wouldn't you like to stay here with me?" He cocked his head to the side cutely but I couldn't show him how that made me feel.

"Sorry Souma but I've got other plans." For some reason instead of leaving I just leaned back against the wall and watched his every move.

"Hey why did you stop calling me Kukai? How about Kukai-koi?" He was completely ignoring what I had previously said but as long as I was with him I didn't mind at all.

He was all mine for just this moment.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	9. The Boy and Star Finally Connect!

**Charlie: Yo~! Sorry but no guests today lolz~! Thanks for the reviews guys~! Appreciate it a ton~! Kk so please enjoy and peace~!  
**

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**! After School !**

After school had ended, Kukai decided, more like begged, for us to walk over to the Royal Garden together. I didn't mind but I pretended to be stubborn.

"Come on! We're in the same homeroom and we might as well go together. It's natural! Not suspicious!" He was leaning on my desk, watching me pack my school supplies slowly.

I shrugged with a pair of scissors in my hands, "I don't know Souma…" I looked over at the two girls who were teasing me this morning, Toyoma and Risa, and snipped my scissors menacingly at them. Risa whispered to Toyoma who nodded quickly and they both left in a hurry. I watched them go with a smile that belonged on a devil, not a sweet girl like me.

"Stop doing that." I looked at Kukai who pinned my hand on my desk. I slipped my hand from under his and placed the scissors in my pencil case.

"So are you going with me to the Royal Garden or not?" I asked as if I was the one begging. I pushed my chair in and poked his forehead with amusement.

He smiled at me like a little child, "Yeah! Let's go!" He grabbed both of our bags and led me down the stairs with fast movements.

I almost tripped down the stairs but he didn't seem to notice, "Souma! I'm going to fall and break my…Everything!" He looked back at me with a cheesy grin and stuck his tongue out at me.

I playfully stuck my tongue out, "Keep your tongue in your mouth or you might bite on it and lose it. I don't want to pay for your surgery."

I laughed as we ran around the school. Everyone was looking at us with raised eyebrows but I didn't care.

We finally made it to the Royal Garden but I slammed into one of the closed doors because, one, I was still holding onto Kukai's hand and two, because he wasn't paying attention.

I rubbed my forehead with a pack of ice that Amu handed me after I stumbled into the greenhouse, "Thanks." I said to her in a whisper.

She nodded and looked at Kukai with a sarcastic look, "Really? Kukai, really?" She pointed to my face and rolled her eyes, "Goodness gracious, run on the field and not to meetings."

I patted her shoulder and shook my head, disagreeing with her, "It's okay really. Souma is just really dense like that but that is what makes Souma what he is." I leaned back in my chair and shut my eyes close.

Half a second later, everyone was brawling with laughter. Nagi spilled tea all over the table and Rima was smacking him with her manga. Yaya and Amu were clutching their stomachs while Tadase patted Kukai's shoulder with reassurance.

"Thanks Kumiko. Really it's touching to know I'm too dense for you." He gave me a sarcastic nod and smile.

I nodded back ignoring the sarcastic part, "Your welcome Kukai-koi." I whispered but just enough to make his blush, "Oh and by the way, how's your girlfriend Mimori?" I stared interestingly at my ice pack as he winced at the name.

"Mimori isn't my girlfriend and it's none of your business." He sounded a bit mad. Whoops, looks like I struck a nerve.

"Sheesh, just trying to make some conversation with you Souma." Everyone was looking at us so I decided to drop it. I don't think he'd want to know that his _big fat crush_ was me anyways.

Amu stood between us and flipped her hand frantically while laughing, "Eh, it's okay! Haha let's get down to business." She bent down to my level, which was on the floor, "Kumiko you are free to listen in but please stay here okay?" I nodded not really caring at all.

I slipped my hand into my school bag and grabbed the box of cookies, "Amu gives these to Yaya. She asked for them and hopefully they are still good." _Probably not after the joy ride with Kukai._

She took the box slowly, "Thanks." She stared at the box for a moment and headed to her rightful place on one of those garden chairs.

I stared at her weirdly. Did I do something wrong? I watched as Yaya and Pepe opened the box with delight in their eyes. The other charas gathered around and each grabbed a cookie. I smiled, at least I did something nice today.

I stared back at Amu who was whispering in Kukai's ear. He looked at me with a confused look which kind of worried me a bit. He nodded as he turned his head away and took a seat on the stairs.

I sat in front of the water-fountain and didn't mind much. Mimori was up there with the other charas so she was kind of busy. She needed some friends so whatever.

"Hey," I looked up from my Mary Janes and Kukai was staring down at me. He wasn't smiling.

"Hey," I mumbled back. Was something wrong?

"So…You can character transform right?" I raised my eyebrow. Was this all he wanted to know?

"Yeah…I can. Why?" He took a seat next to me and pulled his legs up so he could rest his chin on his knees.

"Nothing in peculiar, it's just that maybe you could work with us. You know…With x-eggs? Amu likes you a lot so...She thought you'd like to help us out." He looked at me with his beautiful eyes and I turned away instantly. Who knows what I'll say if I look into his eyes.

"I work alone Souma. As much as I love to, I work alone." I tapped my feet and sighed, "Do you like that Mimori girl a lot?"

He raised his eyebrows at the sudden question, "Hey we were just talking about the whole x-egg thing and now you're bringing her up?" He looked utterly confused and dumbfounded.

"Do you?" I asked with force. I peered over the water-fountain and the Guardians were still talking so it gave us some time to talk.

He scratched his head, "I don't know. I guess but I don't think I like her the way you're interpreting it." I smiled at his comment. I don't know why but I smiled.

"Good." I nodded and stared at the blue sky beyond the glass doors of this greenhouse.

He looked at me weirdly and pushed me gently, "Good? How is that good?" I could tell we were both looking deeply into the sky so maybe he wouldn't get half of what I say.

"You wouldn't like her anyways. You really wouldn't." I shook my head as I watched the birds fly above the trees.

He straightened up, "How would you know? You've never met her before. You have no right to talk about-"

I cut him short, "I do know her and right now it doesn't look like you'd like her anyways. Stop acting like your could." My words didn't sound like me at all. They sounded like someone else's and where this all this anger and jealously come from?

"I'll do anything I please! You aren't the boss of me Kumiko. Don't come to Seiyo thinking you rule every damn boy!" He was actually yelling at me but the Guardians couldn't hear him.

I stared at with narrowed eyes,"You," I poked him in the chest, "don't know me Souma. I don't rule anybody—they rule me! It's never about me okay? I try so hard to protect the ones I love but they drift away!" Oh great now I sounded so weak and defenseless but it was all true, "My mom left me to be with some freakin' American guy and now I only have my dad who married some woman he never dared to mention! I put up with this move because I got to see you Kukai! YOU!" I poked at his chest viciously as tears fell from my chest. It hurt so much to be around him.

He stopped my finger from poking his chest and pulled me into a kiss. It was warm and his lips were softer than clouds. Not that I've touched a cloud before but you get it. He hands were around my neck so I couldn't avoid the kiss but I wouldn't even dare, "It's okay." He whispered against my lips.

I could feel the tears streaming down my face but I knew Kukai would protect me. Even the smallest tear couldn't get to me.

Kukai finall backed away from me, touching his lips with his fingers, "It's okay." He whispered again. I smiled at him and rested my head on his shoulder.

Someone coughed from above us and everyone was staring at us, "Whoa…" Nagi sweat-dropped and so did the others.

"Well, um…The meeting is over Kukai-sama so…You two can go…" Tadase stared at Kukai with sparkly eyes that I took as an offense but didn't say.

Kukai looked over at me blushing, "Right…Right." He pulled me up and we grabbed our bags. I felt so awkward that my first kiss was surrounded by 6th, and a 5th, grader.

Kukai told me he'd wait for me outside because he needed some fresh air. I helped Amu, Yaya, and Rima with the mess on the table because the other guys needed _fresh_ air too.

Amu grinned playfully at me and I couldn't help but blush under the heat, "How did it go?" I looked around to make sure she was talking to me and sadly, she was.

"Um…Good? He has soft lips." I blushed as I piled up the dishes from the table.

"Aw…Kumiko-chan and Amu-chan are both lucky. Yaya wants her first kiss too!" Yaya pouted her lips and sighed.

Rima snorted in disgust, "Watch out Kumiko, I hear Kukai's a player." She wiggled her eyebrows at me which made my shoulders shake with laughter.

Amu pushed Rima gently, "Kumiko she's lying. Kukai's a really good guy."

"Of course I am. I'm like the super hero right?" Kukai was leaning against the door frame staring at me. I gave my plates to Amu and waved bye to her.

I linked my arm through Kukai's and looked back to see all the girls smiling at me but all the boys were…Laughing? I looked up at Kukai was smiling like an innocent child, "Kukai…Don't mean to spoil your fun but…You know how I kept talking about Mimori?"

He looked down at me and smiled, placing his hands in his pockets, "Yep. Are you jealous?" I nudged him with my elbow and he smiled as he hunched over a bit from the pain.

"I'm not jealous it's just that…Her real name is Futari Kumiko." I hid my face under my hair, "She was under a lot of stress and just suddenly blurted out her chara's name."

He started laughed laughing so I stared up at him confused, "I kind of guessed that on the first day."

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief, "On the first day? Are you sure you weren't told?"

He thought about it and smiled at me, "How'd you know? Mimori told me while I was looking for you in the forest. You're such a shy thing." He pinched my cheeks and I gave him an Indian burn.

I rested my head on his shoulder and kissed him on the cheek before I opened the door to my house.

Oh this was only the beginning for sure!

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	10. Memories Make a ComeBack

**Charlie: Yo~! What's up me fellow Shugo Chara lovers? Well here's another chapter of Fallen Star~* Lolz I've got a horrible cold but don't worry I'm sure it ain't contagious. **

**Yaya: Ehhh~ You've got a cold? Charlie-chan's got a cold?! Go, go little duckies. Go, go! Run~! *Runs out of office*  
**

**Charlie: *Rolls eyes* I thought we weren't going to do that Yaya~! Get back here! *Runs off after Yaya with a sniper* **

**Yaya: *Pops head in office* Charlie does not own any characters from Shugo Chara~! Go, go little duckies~! Hehehehe~!**

**Charlie and Yaya: Enjoy and Peace~!  
**

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We were all sitting at the dining table, silence surrounding us. Airi looked at my dad, my dad looked at me, and I looked at Airi. We were obviously waiting for someone to start a conversation.

"So…School's been good." I picked at the string beans on my plate.

Airi was sipping coffee from her cup while my dad looked at me with distaste, "I'm sure it has. After all, that boy was mooching kisses off of you." My dad was glowering at his dinner while he arranged into a picture. He was probably going to create a food version of Kukai and stab it with his fork, enjoying every moment of it.

Airi raised her eyebrows at me and slipped in a secret smile as she wiped her face with a napkin, "Kumiko how _shameful_, I guess we'll be having a talk later this evening." My dad looked pleased but we were laughing on the inside.

I continued to pick at my plate, "So dad, any good news?"

He shrugged nonchalantly but I knew he was really happy on the inside, "Oh same old, same old. Oh Airi you wouldn't believe who I met on my way to lunch today!"

Airi nodded slightly, "Who dear?" I smiled as she played along with my dad's little game.

"This great photographer named Hinamori Tsumugu! He took amazing pictures of birds! Oh if only you were there Airi! I asked him if he could take the pictures of our wedding and he agreed with no complain!" My dad was glowing. Really he was. It was a tad bit weird that my dad looked like a sissy but what was weirder was that my dad just met Amu's dad. Or was Hinamori a common name?

"That sounds excellent dear. Boy do we have a lot of things to think about. I can't even think about our wedding right now." Airi looked down at her ring. It was a silver ring with a tiny crown looking thing that held the small diamond within it. It was a beautiful rings. How'd I miss that?

"That's a nice ring Airi." I nodded as I slowly stuffed my mouth with string beans.

She smiled at me looking a bit fretful, "Thank you dear." She looked at my dad once more, "If you two will excuse me." She placed her dish in the sink and walked upstairs with a bit of a weary movement.

My dad stared down at his plate, "She must be tired. She's tired." He twirled his food all around his plate and I knew something was up.

"Dad I'm going upstairs okay?" I placed my dish in the sink and walked up the stairs to stare down at my dad, "Night." He nodded at me and I closed the door to my room. Why did he have to look so miserable? Why did Airi look so disturbed at the whole idea of a wedding? Isn't this why she met my dad? To get married?

I sank down on my bed and Mimori circled around with me excitement, "Kukai and Kumiko, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G~!" She giggled as she took a seat on one of my pillows.

"Mimori now isn't the time to be-" My phone vibrated on my side table and I picked it up in a rush, "Hello?"

There was a silence on the other end but there was some heavy breathing, "Kumiko? Is that you dear?"

I could feel a lump form in my throat, "Mom? Is that really you? Where are you?" My mom was never one to call. I didn't expect anything from her because well, she left me with my dad so she could go run off with a foreign guy.

"Oh Kumiko you sound so horrible. Is your father treating you well? Sigh, if only you were here. Wes wants to meet you so badly." She sounded like she was deeply touched by my voice but I knew better. She was just stalling so she could say something deadly horrifying.

"Yeah I'm sure he does. Dad is treating me well and he's been absolutely hospitable. Why'd you call? You never call." I meant it when I said she never called and I could hear her sit back with wide eyes.

"Kumiko I always call! What is wrong with you? Can't a mother call her daughter just for fun?" I rolled my eyes. I was seriously getting pissed with my mom right now.

"Moms can call their daughters for fun but you never do it for fun. You always have something up your sleeves. I'd like to hear what it is this time." I ran my fingers through my hair and watched as Mimori circle around my room anxiously.

Mimori was never one to _hate_ my mom but she didn't like how my mom just abandoned me. Mimori didn't exactly feel her happiest when my mother called either.

"Kumiko I'm sure I've trained you better than to snap at your own mother like that. Besides I was just going to invite you to the mainland. In fact, I'm not asking I'm begging. This way you can attend our wedding!" Oh was begging a good word for her. More like forcing. My mom always thought that her stupid blond highlights would get her freebies or discounts and to make it worse, it always did.

"Mom I'm not going to America. I already have a life here and I'm not going to just leave it all behind so I can be with you and Tess." Mimori and I knew I said Tess on propose. After I hang up on my mom I am so laughing for the rest of the night.

"It's Wes dear. Wes with a W and not Tess which is clearly a girl's name. Are you doing this on purpose? And who's forcing you?" I rolled my eyes and pointed my finger to the phone which Mimori responded with a roll of her eyes.

"Anyways," I said with a flick of my wrist, "I don't want to go to America. Period."

"Fine. Fine. Kumiko I also wanted to let you know that you have a baby sister…I'm pregnant with Wes's child." And making that the final note, I hung up on her. I cared that I had a baby sister. I cared that I was going to have a step-father. What I didn't care about was that my mom was off making a baby with some foreign dude who I don't even know!

My dad knocked on my dad and entered without permission, "Was that your mom?" I nodded and he sighed as he took a seat next to me on my bed, "Don't let her get to you. Oh and what did she have to say this time?"

I sighed and held my head back, moaning with distress, "She wants me to move to America with her oh and did I mention I have a half-sister?"

He quirked his mouth and sighed, "Well that's your mom. You should go to America Kumiko. It'll be better for you."

I stared at him and I think my eye twitched, "Are you kidding me? Dad what are you thinking? She'll just leave me again! Tess will try to be my dad but he'll never be good enough!"

My dad raised his eyebrow with amusement, "Tess? She's marrying a guy named Tess?" He cracked up and wiped a tear from his eye, "Oh that is so much like your mom. Anyways, he'll try Kumiko. I doubt she'll abandon you without telling me. Maybe you'll enjoy yourself."

I grabbed my pillow and muffled a scream, "Dad just go." I said dramatically like I was dying, "Leave me to die! I'd rather die than go to America with _that _woman!"

My dad laughed and shrugged his shoulders, "At least I tried. Got to give me points for that." He shut my door on his way out.

Mimori rushed to my side and caressed my cheek, "You should get some sleep Kumiko." I slowly shut my eyes, "Maybe this is the best for you. Move to America." Those were the last words before I drifted to sleep.

**! Kumiko's Dream !**

**_"You should go."_**

**_I was sitting on a hill that lay beyond a meadow. Kukai was at my side and clutched my hand with his._**

**_I looked up at him with tears in my eyes, "Why? Why do you ask me to leave you like this?"_**

**_He didn't bear to look at me as tears rolled down my cheeks. Instead he only stared at the sun ahead of us. It's red and orange hues slowly setting, "I don't want you to but you have to go Kumiko. It's for the best."_**

**_I stood up abruptly and dropped his hand, "How do you know what's best for me? How do you know that staying here isn't the best for everyone? You'll have me and I'll have you! What's so horrible about that? Explain to me! Please!" _**

**_The tears were streaming now and gusts of wind were gushing around us. The setting slowly changed. I was now staring at Kukai with fire in my eyes. The sun was long gone and the trees where dead. The background was grey and filled with thunder._**

**_He stood up and brought my hands to his heart, "I'll always have you in my heart Kumiko. It doesn't matter where you are because we'll always be together. The moon appears all over the world and yet it'll seem as though we're at the same place at the same time. You will never wander away from me as long as you are on Earth."_**

**_I looked at him with deep thought, Kukai was crying as well but not like me. I was like a baby and he looked even manlier, if that was even possible. I looked away from him. I felt so betrayed. His words were beautiful but it didn't mean they were true, "I don't think I can trust your words Kukai. It's like you want me to go. What if you lose me forever to some foreign guy? What if I never come back? Don't you fear that?"_**

**_He shook his head instantly which made me worry, "If you really want to start over go ahead. I'm not the one who should stop you. I love you and I'm willing to let you go."_**

**_I shook my head letting the tears fall from my face and onto the ground. Each tear seemed to have brightened the setting around us. Slowly the trees were coming back to life and the sun was waking once more. Why did the Earth come back to life when I was in pain? I looked at him and his smile seemed to glow even brighter, "Kukai, I must sacrifice myself for the sake of humanity. I am a tool for the happiness of man-kind. A stupid, worthless, tool." _**

**_He shook his head and caressed my cheek, "You are a beautiful girl who wants to save the world. Kumiko you will surely do that."_**

**_With that he kissed my cheek and disappeared with the wind. He seemed to have dissolved like sand. I tried furiously to snatch some sand but the wind snatched him away from me, "No! Kukai don't do this to me!" I screamed at the wind and kicked the tree with fury, "How dare you betray me with your kind words?! I am not beautiful. I will curse you till the end of the world! Mark my words Kukai Souma! I will get you!" _**

**! End of Kumiko's Dream !**

I sat up from my bed sweating. I gasped and looked all over the room thinking that it was just a nightmare but it seemed so real.

"Kumiko…That dream…It was horrid." I looked at Mimori whose eyes were red.

I looked at her and felt my heart tug at my chest, "Y-You saw that?" She nodded and placed her small hand on my shoulder.

"It might be a sign but I don't understand it quite well. Something or someone is waiting for you in America. I can feel it." She narrowed her eyes at the view from my window.

"I'm going to have to go sooner or later, huh?" She nodded and I ran my fingers through my hair with confusion.

"Possibly, you should talk to Kukai about this though. He'd get worried." She floated over to my window and pried it open with some struggle.

I eyed her suspiciously, "Going somewhere?"

She looked back at me with a weak smile, "Guardian meeting with the other charas. Kiseki's orders. Can I go Kumiko?"

I nodded and helped her with the window. She zoomed out into the city trying to navigate her way to the school.

Without Mimori, it was a tad bit hard getting ready for today. Thank goodness it was Saturday because with that nightmare I don't think I could get through the day. Thankfully I could manage getting ready. I kept it simple by leaving my hair as it is. It was sleek black and fell beneath my shoulder. My bangs where swept to the side with a simple flick of my wrist and a black cat hair-clip.

My clothes were simple enough but not necessarily jeans and a t-shirt. It was a nice black dress that fell just above my knees. It was decorated with white dots and a zipper ran down the middle of the dress. The dress had straps that were about the size of two of my fingers.

I sighed at the top of the stairs, not sure what would come next. First, Airi who didn't seem to like the idea of being married, then my mom who wanted me to move to America with her and her freakin' Tess, and last but not least, what my dream meant.

As usual, my dad sat at the dining table with his glasses on the tip of his nose, reading a newspaper. Airi was making some coffee but the only thing that was different was the fact that no one was talking.

I took a seat and tapped my fingers on the table with impatience, "So I'm going to go out okay? Maybe with some friends."

Airi gave me an 'Uh huh' and my dad didn't even respond nor peered at me from his newspaper.

"Boys might be there…Kukai especially." I looked at both of them trying to get a response but they refused to do so, "Hey dad can I have your credit card? Buy me a new pair of Gucci stilettos." My dad reached into his wallet and tossed his Visa from across the table. I grabbed the credit card and waved it around like I had just won a golden ticket, "Well mama's going to go buy some stuff and make sure it's useless!"

I turned around and slipped on a pair of black and white flats, "I'm leaving with this credit card…Out the door…Gucci, Chanel, Coach—Oh great merciful Heavens!" I stomped over to the dining table and slammed the card in front of him. Once again he didn't respond with any emotion what-so-ever.

"Oh dear just go ahead and have some fun. Your **father** is just being **stubborn**." Airi was practically yelling over the gurgling sounds from the coffee maker. I watched as my father winced but then recollected himself.

"Kumiko go ahead and buy yourself some designer shoes. I mean that is what _you_ wanted right?" For some reason I had the feeling that my dad wasn't talking about designer shoes anymore. In fact, he was looking at me but talking to Airi.

I waved it off and sighed, "Dad I don't need designer shoes, besides I'm not ready for them. I just want…" I trailed off not wanting to say anything. It would only make things worse.

"Psh, how was I supposed to know you weren't ready? You said you were ready. That's why I brought this whole thing up!" My dad looked pissed and was no longer looking at me. He was focusing all his attention on Airi.

"I never said I was ready Hiroshi! You just knelt down and gave me the ring! I loved you--I mean I still do--so that's why I said yes. I couldn't say no because then you'd break up with me!" Airi was on the verge of tears and I could not find a better time to leave.

I dashed out of the house in a hurry. Thank God I was not going to be part of that fight. It was just all too much for me and yet I was reliving my past once again.

I was 11 when it happened. My mom and dad had been having these fights for a week straight. At first I thought it was just a little, ruckus. My mom couldn't take it anymore. She said she needed space, freedom, and needed to explore. My dad on the other hand was arguing for my mom to stay home and watch me. In fact, he was begging.

My mom yelled at him and told him to pack his things. My dad had asked me to say something to persuade my mom but I just stood there crying. My dad sighed and packed his things with haste. He didn't leave a single thing and left in his mini-van to live in the country-side.

After the fight, my mom ignored me even less. She pretended like I wasn't around and when I talked to her, she'd just nod, shrug, or wave me off. Thankfully, I was able to spend every other week with my dad. My dad didn't blame me for anything but I knew I had some part, okay most part, in this whole divorce.

When I was supposed to go back to my mom's house, she forgot and kept begging my dad for a few more weeks. Sadly, she was just stalling us so she could pack up and move to America.

One night she suddenly called my dad and told him that she had "business" to attend to in America. My dad didn't mind at all because he knew all her tricks. So basically that left me with my dad and for quite a while I hadn't felt this guilty for anything since that one day.

I slouched down against the grey brick wall and held my knees to my face. The tears just kept coming like they were held in for so long. They were.

"Kumiko?" I heard grocery bags drop to the floor and make that shivering sound of plastic. I looked up to see Kukai standing above me. He gave me a weak grin and sat down next to me, pulling my head onto his lap. He gently caressed my hair as I stained his khaki's with salt water.

"I-It's h-horrible! I-I…T-They're fighting!" He continued to caress my hair and gave a little 'Mm hmm' to reassure me.

"You need somewhere to go don't you?" I looked up at him thinking he was an absolute angel. I nodded reluctantly, "Come to my house then! You'll meet my generous family too!" He gave me one of his famous thumbs-ups assisted with a grin.

I smiled and wiped the tears away from my eyes with the back of my hand, "You sure?"

He pulled me up from the ground and slapped me on the back once he helped me up, "Of course I'm sure! All you got to do is carry those grocery bags." He gestured to the white plastic bags in the middle of the road. My jaw dropped at the sight of the bags. They were almost broken and were piled with different items.

"…F-fine?" I ran over to grab the bags and soon enough they blocked my face. So now I couldn't see and had to depend on Kukai's _accurate _instruction.

With luck, we finally made it after several trips and drops of items, "Man you were so slow. Here's some advice, don't join the track club." I could tell he was winking at me from the piles of grocery bags and kicked him in the shin, "Ow!"

I snickered from behind the bags, "Can you ring the bell? I don't think I can carry these much longer…" I began to stagger and ended up tripping. The bags spilled all over the place and worst of all, I landed on top of Kukai!

What kind of sick anime is this?!

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	11. Keeper of His Heart

**Charlie: AHHH~!!! Sorry guys this is a REAL short one but I think it's a bit romantic so you know...Valentine's related. Just cuz my Valentine's Day was boring doesn't mean the same for you guys so Happy Valentine's Day~! Love you guys~!**

**Mimori: Charlie does not own any characters from Shugo Chara! Enjoy and Peace!  
**

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I was on top of him and he couldn't stop staring at me with wide eyes. I couldn't get up because my body wouldn't move. Man its hot here. "Um…"

"Yo Kukai took ya long en-"We both twisted our necks to the door and there were a few guys staring at us. I formed a lump in my throat and swallowed.

"Knock it off guys." Kukai helped me up and for some reason I got the feeling there was going to be some ugliness in this whole thing. He glared at the buff guy who was towering over us.

Talk about menacing, "Um…Sorry we interrupted you guys. We'll be on our way." I bowed to the buff guy and grabbed Kukai's arm but he wouldn't budge.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "Where are you going?" All the guys stepped inside the apartment door and Kukai was already gathering the bags. He stepped into the apartment and chuckled at me, "I live here…Baka."

I pursed my lips together and strode past with, brushing his shoulder with a stubborn touch, "I knew that." I lied.

"Sure you did." He rolled his eyes and dropped the bags onto the floor. I looked around the apartment and noticed everything was so clean…Yet there were 5 guys living together.

"Where's your mom Kukai? She must work hard to clean this apartment." I was too busy taking off my shoes that I ignored the fact that quiet surrounded me.

"She died." Said the brother with green hair and nerdy glasses. I also noticed from the corner of my eye and the purple haired and long brown haired brothers left the living room.

"They're wimps. Don't mind them doll." The buff guy patted my shoulder as he took a seat into one of the recliners. I looked over at the kitchen counter and Kukai was slowly but dazzlingly placing the groceries away.

I took a guilty seat on the leather couch and sat in utter silence, "I'm sorry I-"

"Look here doll—Don't be like everyone else and give us those freakin' eyes. We don't need that stupid, crappy pity. We're fine, living, and breathing. Got it?" I nodded as the buff guy grabbed the remote and switched on the TV.

"Kaido stop harassing her." Kukai threw an empty water bottle at Kaido's head and returned to his stacking.

"Hey I'm reading so will you two shut up?" The nerd guy got up from his chair and slammed the door to his room.

"That's Shusui. He's a bossy nerd hon. Don't mess with him." I nodded and watched Kaido flip through various channels. He looked over at me and gave me the same grin that Kukai was so famous for, "What did my brother do to you anyways? Pay you to date him?"

I shuffled uncomfortably in my spot, "Um…Not exactly. I kind of feel special when I'm around Kukai…Possibly love him too." In the background I could hear Kukai struggling all of a sudden with his groceries. Kaido smirked at me with amusement.

"Nice one doll. You're a keeper." He turned his attention back to the TV and I stared at Kukai's movements.

He was struggling to place things in the cabinet and he was just clumsy all of a sudden. I laughed and took a can from his hand, letting a weird feeling shiver up my spine. I dropped the can and we both dashed for it, clashing heads on the way.

"Sorry! Sorry!" I placed my hand on my head where I bumped his and fell back laughing, "Sorry I didn't mean to cause trouble."

He sat back on the floor and stared at me with blank eyes, "Did you mean what you said back there."

I stared back at him with raised eyebrows, "Of course I did. I mean I bumped heads with you so of course I had to say sorry. You dope." I looked away because I knew what he really meant but I didn't want to answer with the correct answer.

He pulled my chin to face him and smiled, "You're really weird Futari-chan." I blushed and bit on my lip.

"So are you Kukai," I tilted my head, "You're foot is hurting my foot." I suddenly glared at him and he rushed to look at our feet. His foot was on top of mine and he laughed.

"You ruined our moment." He helped me up from the ground and kissed me on the forehead.

I placed my hand on my forehead, "What was that?"

He grinned his famous smile, "It's a peace offering for stepping on your foot."

I laughed and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer, "Well this is for being stupid." I kissed him on the lips and ran my arms around his neck.

I am a keeper. The 'keeper' of his heart.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	12. Held Hostage By My Savior

**Charlie: Kk~! This chapter should make up for the shortage that the last one lacked. Bad chapter, go to your room~! Lolz well I hope this one's good cuz length doesn't matter if it's bad~! Thank you for all of those who rated and I wanted to thank Shino Kouba who actually set me straight. You are right, I did move too fast. Okay call this an excuse if you want, but most of the readers like to get right to the point and well I usually take a while to make the relationship start. So for this story I kind of sped it up a bit. So thanks to Shino I will now go at my own pace~! Although comments and suggestions are still welcomed~!**

**Thank you for reading and please enjoy~! Peace~!  
**

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After Saturday I didn't dare call Kukai for the rest of the weekend. I spent my Sunday binging on snacks, trying to avoid my dad and his girlfriend. They continued to convince me that they made up and everything was fine but I didn't budge from the security of my room.

Mimori had spent more time with the Guardian charas than me but I didn't mind. All I needed was some time to think but Kukai and Amu wouldn't let me binge in peace. They had sent me several texts during the whole day.

Kukai went on and on about how he's sorry for moving too fast yesterday. As guilty as I felt for not replying to set him straight, I felt so awkward now. When he walked me home we both didn't talk for the whole way until I was about to go inside. "My family likes you." He stated eager to get me to start a conversation. I remember the face he had on. Desperate for a smile or hug, he was worried he went too far. But he didn't.

Amu on the other hand wanted to hang out but after several ignored messages she asked me what was wrong. I love Amu, I really do. I mean I probably even envy her for being so, nice. But I couldn't face her right now and face the consequences of her various questions about Kukai and me.

I laid down on my bed and stared at the ceiling weary. Shoving a chip into my mouth I grabbed the vibrating phone from my side-table. "Oh gosh! What now?" I flipped the phone open and stared at the message with a wry look.

**_Message 3- From: Hinamori Amu  
Kumiko are you okay? I hope you're feeling alright.  
There's something I want to tell you but you might  
go crazy! Um…Message me back if you want to know._**

I scoffed and threw the empty bag of chips into a trash can, "How am I supposed to relax in peace when she makes me so eager to know?" My fingers danced across my phone as I replied to Amu's message with curiosity and sadly, no pride.

A few minutes later, it rang. I ran my fingers through my hair and prepared myself for what was inside this phone.

**_Message 3- From: Hinamori Amu  
Hm…So you message me now? It's okay _****_J_****_  
I wanted to hear from you anyways!  
Oh right! The secret…Well Utau Hoshina,  
my friend, came and went to eat ramen with  
Kukai. I mean he said he was going to your place.  
Guess he needed some comfort food?_**

I gripped my phone with such force and anger. I didn't want to be immature but comfort food with Utau Hoshina? How does Amu even know her? Hoshina is like gorgeous with her blonde hair and she sings so great!

I sank down on my bed and shot up finally deciding what to do. I wasn't going to let Kukai get away from me this easily! I grabbed my black hoodie and converse before I rushed out the door.

"Kumiko where are you going?" Airi was holding the door open with eyes full of surprise.

I ran in place, "Important errand!" She nodded and waved me off with a smile.

I texted Amu to ask where she was and apparently she was sitting on a field close to my house. By the time I got there Amu was sitting with Tadase. She looked my way and blushed all the way up to her tiny pigtails.

"Amu! Is this a good time?" I glanced at Tadase who stared at me with a confused expression. I narrowed my eyes at him, "What are you staring at Hotori?"

He simply pointed to my clothes and I stared down. To my embarrassment, I was wearing my pajamas. "You're wearing your pajamas. You must really like Kukai-sama." He gave me these sparkly puppy-dog eyes and held my hands in his, "Take care of him." He bowed graciously. I looked at Amu from the corner of my eye and she was fuming.

I snatched my hands away and ruffled his hair, "Hotori you must love Kukai too. Very much in fact. Thank you for taking care of him. Do you know where he went?"

They both nodded and pointed behind them to the train station. I nodded and waved goodbye with a smile on my face. I ran to the train station and across the street was a small ramen shop. I dashed across the road and everyone gapped at my outfit. Or maybe not.

A pair of bright headlights and a loud horn blinded my senses. A car was heading my way and it didn't plan on stopping. I was like a deer in the headlights and I wasn't going to move either.

A pair of arms wrapped around my waist and carried me and jumped into the air to leap on various roofs until we were hidden in an alley. I pushed myself away from my savior and clutched my body close. If only I wasn't being so reckless.

"Are you mentally stupid? Or rather, do you need medical help?" A deep, soothing voice asked from the shadows of the alley. I snapped my head towards the voice and glared viciously.

I grabbed a stray rock and tossed it at the figure, "No I don't! Do I look mental?"

The figure snickered and started walking towards me with his finger pointing at my clothes, "You do actually, oh and you missed. I mean you don't have to lie to me. I'll bring you back to the hospital and who knows, maybe you'll get better." He ran his hand through his shaggy black hair, "Damn, this is so annoying. Stupid mental patients can't stay still."

I glared and threw another rock at him, "Shut up you retard! Go bald and leave me alone!" I buried my head in my knees and felt an arm wrap around my shoulders.

"It's that bad, huh? What do you have? Cancer? Leukemia?" I stared at him and for the first time, noticed that he had green eyes. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

I shook my head and buried my head once again, embarrassed. "I'm not sick. I'm a normal person who recklessly ran across the street without looking twice."

He chuckled and ruffled my hair. This was a strange gesture though because I barely knew the guy. I mean I knew that his skin was pale but it matched him. His eyes were beautiful emeralds and his shaggy black hair was a tad bit messy. I also knew that he saved me from a tragic way to die.

I can imagine my funeral now. Everyone has on a distraught expression on and my mother and father are fighting in the back of the chapel. My mom is blaming my dad for not being serious about my security while my dad is blaming my mom for not ever caring about me. Airi and, this so called Wes, are shaking their heads with disappointment.

I see Kukai and the rest of the Guardians in the front row with tears in their eyes. Kukai's holding something—it's Mimori's egg. It's awfully pale and dull with its faded colors.

The priest clears his throat and everyone turns their attention to him. He then begins the funeral, "Here lies Kumiko Futari who died by recklessly running across the street without looking twice. She did this because she apparently wanted to see her boyfriend with a desperate cause." Everyone looked at Kukai who shrunk down in his seat.

In the coffin I look pale, ugly and damn right sad. A voice calls me and I think I see God. I really do. He's staring at me with his, green eyes?

I snap back to reality and the guy's face is close to me. He's yelling my name and shaking me by the shoulders. I jump back in surprise and he wipes the fake sweat on his forehead, "Oh God I thought you were a goner."

I roll my eyes and kick at the concrete beneath me, "Uh…Thanks for saving me. I don't know your name-"

"It's Arthur." He replies with a grin.

I nodded and continue, "Arthur," I let it sink it. What a plain name. "thanks for saving me. I would do something in return but I don't think we'll meet again so I bid you farewell."

I start walking towards the lights coming from streetlights, "Wait." He grabs my hand and I turn around to see him fully. He's kind of handsome…I mean he's average looking! "Maybe I should give you my number! Um…Yeah! Call me anytime." He grabs a pen, from who knows where, and scribbles numbers on the back of my hand.

I pull my hand away and give him an uneasy smile, "I have a boyfriend." I say slowly. He looks nervous but then it sinks in and he makes an 'O' with his mouth.

He steps back and pulls in his bottom lip, "Well then, this is so awkward. Just don't have your boyfriend beat me up. Nice knowing you, Kumiko."

I nod then run into the bright light that surrounds me quickly. I look back at the alley and no one is there. This time, I walk home looking both ways twice and think about how rude I was in the alley. Arthur was so nice to me, well besides the fact that I think he was flirting with me. He saved me too. That's ubber points for the boy.

I finally reached home and Amu and Kukai are both sitting on the couch watching TV but they don't look interested in the TV.

"Hi guys…What are you doing in my house?" I whisper so my dad and Airi don't hear. It was already 10 PM and I have strict curfews, which I had obviously just broken.

"Where were you Kumiko?" Amu gets up and looks me up and down, "Tadase and I heard a car screech and went to investigate. There was a car accident and everyone was muttering about how a demon swiped up a girl and took her away to be his hostage."

Kukai grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me into a hug, "Oh God! When Amu called me I ran out into the road and there was a car accident just like Amu said. Utau said she had to go back to rehearsal but she'd look out for you. I guess I have to call her." He pulled away and smiled, "Thank goodness you're okay." He kissed my forehead and went outside to call Hoshina.

I narrowed my eyes at the floor and Amu coughed uncomfortable, "Nothing happened to them. You should relax. He was really worried and plus, he wasn't so happy that your kidnapper was a guy."

I nodded slightly pissed, "Amu would you leave? I mean I don't mean to be rude-"

She smiled, "Oh its okay! I was just making sure you're okay. No big deal." She went over to the door and before she left she gave me a final smile, "Kumiko we could never live without you."

I smiled and hoped everyone felt that way—still.****

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	13. I Dig a Hole to My Grave

**Charlie: Hello fans from all over the world~! Lolz the reviews were very inspiring~! So I wanna give a shout out to Sayonara Yasashii Akumu and Shino Kouba. **

**Sayonara thanks for reviewing after every chapter~! It really makes me feel loved lolz as cheesy as that sounds it does~! Thanks for reviewing and I hope you continue to cheer me on. **

**Shino lolz I'm glad you thought that Arthur resembled Ikuto (besides the fact that he has green eyes) cuz that was what I was so aiming for lolz. Dark and mysterious can only spell hot~! Lolz~! Thanks once again~!**

**I want to also thank everyone who has continued to read my work even though it's had some flaws. I mean having people read your work and review it is a tremendous gift. People would kill to be appreciated this much~! Thanks to everyone and please remember I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~! Enjoy and peace~!  
**

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I've been soaking in the tub for quite a while now. My toes and fingers were pruned and white. I sat back and taking everything in very slowly while Mimori watched me from a corner of the tub.

"I'm sorry Kumi-chan." She choked out for the 100th time.

I closed my eyes and nodded slightly, "I know Mimori but really you didn't do anything wrong." I could hear her little feet kicking the water. I slowly opened my eyes and wrapped myself in a towel as I got out of the tub.

Mimori floated out of the tub and sat on the edge of the sink. "I was with Daichi…Not at a Guardian's meeting." She twirled a little lock of her brown hair with a guilty look.

I sighed once again, drying my hair with the towel, "Really Mimori its okay. I was just being reckless."

Still she wouldn't take it, "Aren't you going to yell at me? I'm a horrible chara." She slouched and sulked as she hid her face behind her small pudgy hands.

I laughed and patted her hair, "I couldn't even if I wanted to. You're like a little version of me silly."

Feeling Mimori's sulking drift over to me, I sank down to the bathroom floor and sulked with the white towel wrapped around me. My wet brown hair dripped over the tiled floor. _Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip._

I lifted my head from my knees and noticed the black sharpie smudged numbers on my hand. Thoughts ran through my head. Arthur. Arthur who saved me. Arthur who I didn't even thank properly.

There was a gentle knock at the door, "Kumiko are you okay? You've been in the shower for an hour now. Something wrong?" Airi's voice was muffled a bit by the door but I heard her well. I barely managed a yes so it came out as a high pitched okay. "Okay…Kumiko we'll be downstairs if you need us." I could hear her walking towards the stairs but come back, "We love you." She chimed.

I actually believed her. I mean who couldn't, with her soft and bell-like voice.

Mimori looked like she was staring at me intensely but she was actually staring at the smudged numbers on my hand. She pointed down at it without peeping a word. I stared down at the numbers and felt relieved, "I got to call him. I owe him that. I owe him just that much." I smiled and put on a clean pair of pajamas and dashed over to my room.

My eyes were tear-stained and red. Mimori looked rejuvenated and had a bounce in her step once again, "For some reason I feel so much happier. You must be following your heart and not lying to yourself. Good for you!"

I nodded and smiled grabbing my phone off my side table. My fingers once again danced across my phone but this time I was happy. I felt good about myself.

The sound of the dial-tone filled my ear as I waited for someone to pick up the phone. It seemed to go on forever but at last someone answered. "Hello?" My heart sank. It was a girl's voice, a cute girl probably. Oh why did I have to be so desperate and call him?

"Hello?" The voice asked again. "Hello? Anyone there? Damn Arthur never has anyone cool to talk to." Muttered the girl on the other line.

I paused for a second; only letting my breathing let the girl on the other line know my existence. I breathed in and let it out, "Is Arthur there?"

She girl giggled, "Of course he is! Sadly he's taking a shower. Want to leave a message sweetie?" An image suddenly popped in my mind. Arthur was sitting next to the girl and they were both laughing at the stupid sound of my voice. I fell back on my bed and bit on my lower lip.

"I…Uh…I…Um…" The mumbles just flew out and no matter how hard I tried to say something, it just wouldn't come out, "Spoons! I love spoons and silver-ware!" On the other end I could hear the girl giggling again but then there was a crash and a moan.

"Yo?" A deeper voice took over the other end, the person was panting. "Anyone there? Shit, Michiko. Your name may mean beautiful, smart child—and in that order! But you are as ugly as a wart and as stupid as a rock!"

I laughed and covered my mouth automatically, "Shit." I muttered. Mimori looked over at me with a raised eyebrow making an 'Ohhhh' sound.

"Kumiko? Is that you?" His voice sounded surprised and I couldn't help but let out a laugh now that he knew it was me.

"Hey Arthur, I wanted to thank you properly…So what do you wanna do this Saturday? My treat." I bit down on my bottom lip hoping he wouldn't reject my offer.

"Saturday? Your treat? Me and you?" I bit harder down on my lip, "Sure. Meet me at the park across from the ballet studio."

I pictured the ballet studio in my mind and then the park across from it. I smiled, "Okay! Meet you there."

When we both hung up I could barely hold it in. I let out a scream of happiness. My father was yelling at me from downstairs but that only made me laugh harder.

I stared up at the ceiling from my bed and my gut twisted. Shit. Kukai. I have boyfriend and yet why do I feel so happy about this whole thing? I just dug myself into a hole.

"Kumi-chan, who was that?" Mimori looked at me with a worried expression.

"My grave digger." I replied effortlessly.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	14. Torn in Two

**Charlie: AHHHHH~! This chapter also sucks~! Oh noes~! Omfg I just can't believe how suckish this chapter is. Sorry guys, I think writer's block is like moving into my mind. Sadly, Creativity moved out a few days ago. Sigh, stupid writer's block. Well I hope this is at least...Decent. Oh gosh, decent is an over-statement (lolz is that a word?) for this chatper~!!!! Anyways please enjoy and peace~!**

**I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~! Thank you~!  
**

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Kukai and I were walking to school in a middle of a crowd. All the girls were staring at us and the boy were making funny faces at Kukai. I honestly couldn't care less.

"You okay? You seem a bit off today." Kukai was suddenly from my side to in front of me, staring at me with his big green adorable eyes. Just like Arthur's. I blushed and looked down embarrassed.

I shook my head, "No I'm fine. Just a lot to think about and everything, nothing you need to stress about." I mumbled.

He smiled and gave me a thumbs-up as he walked backwards, "Good. Then you wouldn't mind if we-"  
Kukai grabbed my hand suddenly and pushed us through a crowd. My face went blank as I was being tagged along like a ragdoll.

When we finally got to the school gates Kukai tried to catch his breath but couldn't help laughing. "Now before you complain, let me tell you that it had a purpose." He gestured towards the school, "We won't be late for school now."

I laughed at his stupid excuse, "Haha very funny. Everyone knows you just wanted to hold my hand."

He smirked, "Of course." He grabbed my hand and once again, but gently, dragged me across the school courtyard.

I felt special when Kukai was near me. The touch of his hand in mine. The way his green eyes never hid anything. The way his voice made everything sound a bit better than it should be.

"Arthur…" I whispered as I rested my head on Kukai's shoulder. _Step. Step. Step. Pause._

Kukai stopped walking and stared down at me, "Who's Arthur?" I gapped and placed my hand to my mouth. Shit! I lifted my head from his shoulder and all the glory from his eyes disappeared.

My eyes darted at every single tree around us. What do I do? Why did I say that? Oh gosh this is so horrible!

"Who's Arthur? Kumiko? You okay?" I nodded and stared up at him trying to think of something. Trying so hard not to break his heart, trying so hard not to break my own.

"Arthur is my…Arthur…Arthur…" I bit down on my lower lip and shut my eyes closed. At least the darkness wouldn't haunt me. The darkness of my eyes couldn't hurt me.

"Kumiko? Is that you?" My eyes fluttered opened at the soft gentle smooth voice. Arthur was staring at us and was in a high school uniform. _Oh shit._ I thought.

"Do you know him Kumiko?" I could see Kukai tense up in the corner of my eye. I just stood there, frozen and completely blank. Out of ideas. Out of excuses.

"Hi…Arthur…" Kukai stared at me and then at Arthur who looked at me with a cheery face. Not the time Arthur.

"This is Arthur?" Kukai gestured to Arthur's tall figure which I nodded reluctantly at, "You must be like an older brother to Kumiko." Kukai wrapped his arm around my waist, "I'm her boyfriend." His arm gripped around my waist tighter and somewhat aggressively.

"Kukai…Stop…You're hurting me." I fell limp in his hold and tried my best to loosen his grip. The longer Arthur stood there, the tighter Kukai gripped me. He was sending me a message. _Don't leave me. Don't go to him. Stay with him. I'm the one who loves you. Not him. It's never going to be him!_ My vision blurred and I felt queasy. I couldn't help but faint in Kukai's arms.

He cared. He wanted me but he didn't want to look desparate. In my mind I promised I'd be with him forever. Forever and ever. _Together tied by the only thing we have—a bond._

"Kumiko! Kumiko wake up!" I felt warm arms wrap around my waist and shake me.

"Let go of her! You're hurting her!" I was being tugged around. Tugged, pulled, and stretched. No one seemed to care that my heart was torn. No one seemed to care that I did love Kukai. He didn't seem to know how much I did. And Arthur will never find out how I feel out him.

My poorly heart was slowly being torn in two. Two pieces. Nothing more.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	15. Running From the Lies

**Charlie: Hm....I actually like this chapter because it kind of gives you a hint as to what Kumiko's role is in this story. For those of you who can't find out, you'll just have to wait. This chapter is like 200 words longer than the last one so hopefully it'll be better. I mean I like this chapter so I just hope you guys do too. To me I think the ending is like a bit dramatic but hey, I can be a Drama Queen sometimes too so why can't Kumiko? Lolz anyways please enjoy and peace~!**

**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
**

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"Enough boys! If you're going to act like little two year olds, you both might as well go back to class!" _Step. Step. Step. Slam._

"You never do anything right Souma." There was a squeak and a fidget of movement.

"Me? Well it's not my fault you quit. You always blame me." There was an awkward silence in the room. The room smelled of medicine and alcohol wipes. _Squeak._

My eyes fluttered open as I rested on a hard bed. My hair was matted and stuck to my cheek. I was surrounded in a shroud of white. I was in the nurse's room. Behind the white curtains were two figures. One was taller and the other one was shorter. One was leaning against a medicine cabinet and the other one was sitting in a plastic chair.

"It wasn't your fault I quit Souma but you make it look like I always blame you." The only sound that now surrounded the room was the metallic sound coming from the AC vent.

_Squeak. Squeak. _"Cause you do. You never told me why you quit and you're always blaming me for your own problems!" The boy shoot up from his chair and stood tall against the taller boy.

The taller boy continued to lean against the medicine cabinet without a response. I sat there on the hard, beige bed and watched the two stare at each other through the curtain. If only I could reach out to them. Hold their hands and tell them the truth. The truth that'll set them free, the truth that was so deeply locked in their hearts.

"Souma sit down. You don't need to prove yourself worthier anymore. You always did anyways." The taller boy ran his fingers through his hair and sighed.

The shorter boy stared longingly at him, a look full of confusion and rushed emotions that were finally coming through. "I never proved myself worthier. See this is what I mean by blaming. You're never satisfied! Always wanting something better!" The boy started to turn towards my direction and I decided to pretend to be asleep but I was too late.

The white curtain swung open and the boy's pair of green eyes stared at me. He looked so gentle and calm, "That's why," He grabbed my arm and pulled me close to his body so I could feel the heat of his body embracing mine. "She's mine and not yours. You'll just toss her around once you see something better." The words were stained on his lips. Protectiveness was flaring in his eyes.

The taller boy looked at me surprised then let out a laugh, "I don't have anything to do with your girlfriend Souma." He waggled his eyebrows at our direction, "Besides, you should be lucky. I'm sparing my revenge."

Kukai's eyebrows knitted together as his eyes changed to fear, "What—"

Arthur waved his finger menacingly at Kukai's direction, "Hush, hush. I'm talking about the girl I liked so many years ago. The girl who I told you I liked but in the end she liked you more. You always got everything I wanted." Arthur swept his bangs to the side and let a smile grow onto his face, "Call yourself lucky Souma. She's a keeper." He winked in my direction.

I didn't know how to react. Kukai was my knight in shining armor but Arthur was the bad guy? The one who would break the knight in half and send him worries of trouble? How? _How?! _ I thought.

"This isn't happening. This isn't happening." I shut my ears with both of my hands and shook it vigorously. "Why are you two lying? Why? Why must you lie so pathetically?" My eyes were blurring again. My stance was shaky and unstable.

Kukai looked at me worried and held me by the shoulders, "Kumiko…Are you okay? Nothing's wrong. This is just some old business. Don't put yourself in my business." He brought me close to him again and patted my head, "I'm sorry for troubling you…" He whispered soothingly into my hair.

I breathed in his scent. I clutched at his body. His form. His living existence.

"You aren't sorry." I muttered into his chest.

I peeked at Arthur who caught my glance and relaxed his tense shoulders. His face mellowed and he almost looked guilty and tired.

"Hell yeah I am." He muttered before he left just Kukai and me in the room.

Thoughts ran through my mind. He heard. He was sorry. He did love Kukai, and a lot too. But Kukai was just too stubborn to notice.

I placed my hand on Kukai's heart and stared into his piercing green eyes, "Are you sorry? Would you forgive Arthur? Would you let him into your heart again?"

He looked away and dropped his arms around me, "I don't know. Would he let me into his heart again? Would he ever forgive me for the things I never did? Would he drop his cheap pride? These are the things I wonder about him."

I nodded and reached over the bed to grab my bag, "I understand. You need time to think so I'll be going."

I swung the shoulder strap over my head and trotted out the room, "Kumi-"

The door slammed shut as I was running. Running where? Anywhere, as long as it's far from those two.

_Squeak. Squeak. Squeak._

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	16. Ice Cream Ruined My Day

**Charlie: Haha~! This chapter doesn't suck but it's not my best work~! Lolz well I hope you guys enjoy. Oh and I want to apologize for the late update. I've had school and like quarterly assessments so couldn't go on. xP Lame excuse I know~! But um...Just sorry I couldn't update and yeah~! Enjoy and peace~!  
**

**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
**

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"Kumiko? Kumiko you up yet?" There was a tiny knock at my door as I stirred in my bed. My sheets were entangled with my legs and I'm pretty sure my hair was a nest.

"Um…It's okay. I'll wait out here." A faint voice said from the other side of my door but I didn't bother to open my eyes.

"Oh my, would you like some tea while you wait? Kumiko usually wakes up by now." Airi's voice was worried and concerned to me.

"It's okay, as long as she gets enough rest. Yesterday was probably too much for her to handle."

Airi's cheerful laugh filled the house, "Oh my, what a sweet boy…But you aren't Kukai-kun…"

There was an awkward cough, "Um…Yeah. Kumiko and I are just friends nothing more. Plus I'm friends with Kukai."

"Oh…Well I'll bring up some tea." There was a scurry down the stair and then a pound against my door as a bit of weight leaned against it.

My eyes fluttered open and my legs untangled themselves from the sheets. The bright sun glared through my curtains and Mimori was nowhere to be seen—not surprising.

I scratched my head and opened my bedroom door to have a pile of weight land on my feet, "Ow!" I glanced down at someone's head. It was Arthur. "Arthur? What are you doing?" I glanced down the hall and pulled him into my room slamming the door behind me.

"Nice clothes." He nodded towards my over-sized t-shirt and pair of gym shorts.

"Thanks…" I scrunched my body together as I felt so embarrassed for being seen like this. "Do you want anything to drink?" I asked.

He shook his head, "No I think Airi's getting it…" I made an 'O' with my mouth and that pretty much earned us a whole 5 minutes of silence.

"What are you doing here?" I tilted my head to the side and pulled my sheets around me.

"Heh, figured you'd forget." He waved at the air, "Nothing just wanted to talk to you. Hey do you wanna go out today?"

I raised my eyebrows, "Go out?" I averted my eyes, "You know I-"

"No I mean just as friends. You know…As a thank you for me saving your life?" He leaned towards me with his green eyes that just pierced right through me. I wouldn't be surprised if he could see all the things and feelings I was thinking of at this moment.

"…Sure. I mean it couldn't hurt right? Just a date between two friends. Nothing more." I nodded unsure of my answer.

"Right…You know we don't have to do this. You look really uncomfortable." He got up and started towards the door but I grabbed his wrist just in time.

"No I want to go with you. I'm fine!" I kind of stumbled out of my bed while trying to grab his wrist and now it looked as if I was begging him for some money.

"You should get up. It looks weird." I nodded and let go of his hand.

"Can you wait downstairs while I change? I'll be right down." He nodded and made his way downstairs.

I closed the door behind him and leaned against it without a breath left, "Oh what have I done? I date between two friends?!" I bit down on my bottom lip and shook my head, "I made a promise."

I got dress and just slipped on my hoodie over a tank top and just added some jeans. Arthur was waiting downstairs talking to Airi so I got to catch some of the conversation.

"You're such a nice boy Arthur. Are you American?" Airi leaned towards him sipping a bit of her coffee.

Arthur looked flush, "Yeah…My dad is American but my mom is Japanese. They divorced a few years ago."

Airi gave him a pair of sympathetic eyes, "Oh dear. It must be hard on your sister then. She's a bit younger right?"

Arthur nodded and looked down at his tea, "Yeah her name is Michiko. She's really sweet. She's 13 so she's around Kumiko's age. I mean I've been raising her since our parents divorced."

Airi tsked, "You poor dear. Your mom must be lucky to have you."

Arthur shrugged unsure, "My mom was kind of down for a few years so I kind of had to run the household. To make things worse, my dad called a few days ago and told me he was getting married to another Japanese lady!"

"Oh…Well everyone does move on. I'm sure your mom has also moved on."

Arthur nodded and traced his finger around the rim of his cup, "I have to go to their wedding in a few weeks from now. It's in America so I'm trying to be happy for Michiko. She really loves to travel." He nodded weakly.

Airi smiled at him and caught me staring down at them from the top of the staircase, "Oh Kumiko!  
Come down, Arthur has been waiting for you!" Airi squealed joyfully, "Arthur you must bring your mom and sister over sometime. I'd love to meet them and maybe Kumiko could befriend your sister."

He nodded with a flush face. I descended down the stairs slowly but fast enough to make sure I didn't look conceited, "Sorry to keep you waiting. You wanna go?"

Arthur nodded and looked slightly uncomfortable. Once we got out of my house he spilled, "You heard didn't you. You were listening." He looked down at me with a embarrassed face.

I nodded guilty, "Don't be embarrassed. To tell you the truth, that's the same thing that's going on with my family. Except my dad moved on and well I don't have a sister named Michiko."

He smiled but still had an aura of embarrassment, "My dad's good and all but they already have a baby girl coming. They haven't gotten married yet! I mean not that it's wrong but…I'm worried he'll leave her too."

I looked at Arthur differently. He was so scarred but it was because of his dad. I noticed that every time we passed a group of kids he'd smile. If a kid was looking troubled he'd stop and comfort the child. I felt enlightened and joyful.

On our way back from getting ice cream I couldn't help but praise him, "Arthur you're so good with kids. You must love them." He smiled at me and shrugged.

He stared up at the sky and ran his fingers through his black hair, "I guess it just kind of happened when I was raising Michiko. Kids are cute; I'm just drawn to them. I got to protect them you know?"

I felt a ping in my heart but it wasn't a good ping. It was a hurt ping. "You're drawn to them? And you got to protect them…" I stared down at my feet and wondered what would happen if I wasn't a kid. Would I know Arthur? Would he have saved me that one day?

"You look sad. Did I say something?" He raised his eyebrow and stared at my hands.

I looked at my ice cream which was dripping, "Oh…How childish of me…" I placed the ice cream to my lips and let the cold into my mouth.

Arthur's green eyes were staring at me again. Piercing me ever so slowly, "Something's wrong with you. Does it taste good?" I looked up at him confused with the sudden question.

He grabbed my hand and licked my ice cream. I stared at him with a scarlet red face, "I was gonna eat that!" I laughed and he took another lick.

"Well eat faster." He traced his finger down the ice cream and tapped my lips with the same finger.

My body was all hot now and I was pretty sure my face was going to explode, "Arthur…" I stared up at him and his innocent face. He looked guilty as he figured out what he did wrong.

"Maybe we should walk faster…" I nodded and licked the ice cream off my lips. I reached over and grabbed the ice cream cone from his hand and took a lick of it.

"We just had an indirect kiss. You should be ashamed of yourself mister." I teased and gave him a wink. For some reason, Arthur took it way more than expected. He was blushing and for the rest of the walk home, he wouldn't talk to me. He just turned away every time our eyes made contact.

When we finally reached my house I had enough of this silence, "Arthur I'm sorry about what I did. I was being insensitive…Sorry…I'll see you later." I opened the door to my house and turned around just to wave to Arthur once more but he was already gone. "Figures."

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	17. Be There For Me, Please

**Charlie: Once again, not my best work. I was kind of in the moment because of some personal problems so please excuse the weird and sudden events in this chapter. ^.^ Other than that, I'd like to thank all my new fans for reading and reviewing my story~! This means the world to me and well, it's freakin' awesome~! (Excuse my language for young ones who do not cuss.) Please enjoy this chapter and peace~!  
**

**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
**

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Yesterday was a total disaster and to make things worse, my phone was off the hook. Kukai and Amu just wouldn't stop calling me. The other guardians texted me a few times but Kukai and Amu exceeded a 'few times'.

It was about the 17th time this morning that my phone rang so I decided to pick it up and not hide behind a few sheets. "Hello?" My voice was dry and honestly, I felt dry and drained of all power.

Mimori had tried her best today to convince Kiseki to stay home and watch me, even though I told her to go out and have some fun. Apparently she had _too_ much fun and ignored all pleading to be alone on a Sunday morning.

"Yo! Sleeping Beauty finally woke up. Did I wake you?" Okay I am such a horrible person. I was actually hoping it was Arthur so I could apologize to him but as expected it was Kukai.

"No you didn't wake me. What's up?" I stifled a yawn as Mimori removed the damp cloth from my forehead and rushed to the bathroom to change it.

"Nothing much, just hoping we can do something today. Amu kind of wants all of us Guardians to hang out." He was obviously in need of my attention today because it was as if he was on his knees and begging like a puppy.

"Well, I'm not a Guardian and I'm sick. Sorry…It's like this sudden cold I got but I don't know how." My nose was clogged up and my voice continued to sound stuffed. I wondered how that never occurred to Kukai.

"I knew something was different. Do you want me to come over? We could watch a movie or maybe just hang out." He really did sound sincere and I couldn't help but fall for it.

"Yeah, I'd like that. You can come over anytime. The door's open." A smiled pressed onto my lips as I remembered dreaming about having a boyfriend taking care of me when I was sick. That was when I was younger and thought it was just a mere fantasy. But here's Kukai who would give up his Sunday to hang out with me.

"Sounds good. I'll be there in about 20 minutes!" I could imagine him smile with his exquisite teeth.

"You don't have to come over so fast. I don't want to bother you."

"Heh, no I want to come over! I'll make sure you'll be up and running by tomorrow morning." I laughed at his childish comment. "Well…See you okay?"

I paused for a second and rambled about what to say. "Don't hang up…Talk to me while you're walking over. I feel so lonely."

Thoughts had popped into my head. Most were not very nice comments about myself. I never thought I would say those words, _"Don't hang up…" or "I feel so lonely."_

"Kumiko you okay? You've been quiet for some time now and well-Oh, I'm in front so I'm coming in okay? Don't worry just wait a few more seconds."

I could hear the twisting of the door knob and the soft squeak as Kukai came in. I stayed down in my bed waiting for him to come. Every second seemed so long. Adrenaline rushed through me pulsing and throbbing inside my head. I held my hands to my head and saw the different images run through my mind.

~.!.~

_"This is all too much for me Hiroshi!" My mom stomped her foot at my dad who stood his ground with his arms across his chest._

_"Too much? You're too much! Don't you ever think about your daughter? Your own flesh and blood?" I watched from the top of the staircase, thinking this would all go away tomorrow._

_"Kumiko isn't saying anything! Don't bring her into this. This isn't her business." My mom hissed through her clenched teeth and for a second I knew what was gonna happen._

_I began to tear and watch the two figures yell at each other through hazy eyes. My mind just ran the same word over and over again. _**Stop. Stop. Stop! **

_My father had heard my sniffling and dropped everything aside, "Kumiko…"_

_My mother shot her head towards me with blood-shot eyes, "I thought you were asleep." She said with her happy, everything-is-going-to-be-alright voice. But I didn't believe her._

_"Kumiko…" My father took off his glasses and rubbed his temples, furiously._

_They just stared at me like I was supposed to say something at that moment. I didn't though. Instead I just ran. Ran up to my room and locked everything._

_There were knocks and bangs on my door throughout the night. I swore I could hear my mom crying and my dad slam the doors of their bedroom door to sleep downstairs._

~.!.~

_I was sitting on my bed texting Kukai on my cell-phone. I didn't know him but we were pen-pals at the moment and we connected instantly._

_I laughed at the text he just sent me. It was probably a cheesy joke. Mimori was floating above me trying to get a sneak of our conversation but I continued to roll over all over the place, preventing her from doing so._

_"He's so…Charming." My eyes drifted to my old bedroom ceiling with many glow-in-the-dark stars sticking to it. _

_"Charming? Must be since you've been giggling to everything he writes. I doubt he's that funny." Mimori rolled her eyes and snuggled up to a pillow obviously bored with my swoon self._

_"He is though. I wish I could meet him one day. Just thinking about it makes me feel so giggly." I clutched my body and my smile stretched into a bigger one._

~.!.~

_This time I was dreaming about something. _

_There was a boy with reddish brownish hair that was shaggy and spiky. I'm thinking he's cute and fun looking._

_Then to the left of him is another boy. Slightly older in age. His hair was black and shaggy. His eyes full of excitement but inside he was a lost boy. _

_I stared at them in wonder. Did they know me? Why are they looking at me? I noticed that they both had green eyes. The younger boy's was encouraging and loving. The older boy's just pierced through my heart as if it was a weapon. He was reaching out to me, telling me his story._

_Suddenly the environment had changed. We were in a field of flowers. It was probably the spring time for the winds were soothing and calm. The sun was up but it just grazed our skins. I was sitting on top of a hill but both boys were at the bottom of the hill staring up at me._

_Their arms outstretched towards me as if I was to fall into them. I could not however for my body was stuck and it wouldn't budge._

_Their happy and gentle faces changed. It was so sudden too. There was a bit of confusion and hate. They looked at each other and I watched as their hearts turned pitch black, floating away from their living bodies. I finally tugged away from the hill and dashed down it, trying to catch their hearts._

_"No~! I won't let you get away!" My body seemed to float and seem lighter. _

_I was suddenly in the air and leaping at the black hearts. But I couldn't. I was falling, deeper and deeper. The boys would not hold out their arms to protect me. I closed my eyes afraid to hit the ground enforcing my deathbed. _

_"Kumiko~!" I looked down and both boys were holding me by my arms and smiling at me. Such love in their eyes._

_This was the best part of my dream but the worst part was yet to come. The boys grew angry once again and tugged at my arms. They bickered and whined telling each other that the other was not suitable for me and that they deserved me. _

_I screamed as I ripped in half._

~.!.~

"Kumiko! Kumiko!" My whole body was shaking as my eyes fluttered open but not fully.

"Arthur." My breath was knocked out of me and my head was dabbled with sweat. I could not see who was holding me but his arms were suddenly tense below me.

"No…No…It's Kukai." His voice seemed hurt but my mind could not make sense of it all.

"Kukai?" I managed to tilt my head just in case he could not get the tone of my voice that I was asking a question.

"Yes, Kukai. Your boyfriend." The words soothed me and his voice was sweet like honeysuckle.

"Mmmhmm…Boyfriend…I…Don't feel good." I shook my head trying to toss away my sickness.

"You had a nightmare. I know, you'll get better. Don't worry." I nodded slightly and stared up at the angel above me. She shook her head in a disappointed matter and floated away.

"I know…You're here with me…" I closed my eyes again without thinking and was yet again, knocked out.

~.!.~

"Kumiko? You okay? You're shaking." I felt someone change the damp cloth on my head with a refreshingly new one. I smiled slightly at their generousity.

"Kukai…" I mustered out from my lips. My throat was dry and it burned to talk. "Water…"

He nodded and grabbed a glass from my side-table, "To think your dad and Airi left without knowing you were sick." He clutched my hand in his and kissed my cheek. I slowly pushed him away with all my effort.

"You'll get sick…Don't." He smiled at me softly. I loved how he did that. I loved how he made things seem okay when they weren't.

"Then we'll be sick together. You won't be alone." He looked away flustered. I squeezed his hand to let him know I was listening.

"Thank you…You've done so much for me and yet I've been such a bitch to you." He laid his chin down on my bed and stared up at my sweaty face.

"No you've been great to me too. I mean we're still kids and well I don't expect anything from you. Just be there when I need you okay?" He wrapped his pinky around mine's to signal a promise was made.

I nodded slightly unsure if I could keep it. "I know…I will…We've only known each other for a while now but, I love you Kukai. I love how you're always there for me. I love how you're always smiling at me even if there's nothing happy to look at." I could feel tears stream down my face.

"Don't cry." He grabbed a tissue and wiped my tears away. I shook my head as he switched the cloth on my head again. "You're the best Kumiko. I'm so happy to be around you. You make me live another day. You make me smile."

I squeezed at his hand again, "Will you still say the same things if I did something that broke your heart?"

This was such a stupid question for I knew the answer already but I still pondered for what would come out of his mouth. He quirked his eyebrow and laughed, "It sounds like you're going to die. Let's stop talking like old people and just talk about regular things. Oh I should refill your water glass."

I stared at him as he released his hand from mine and moved his lips to my ear, "I'd like to think you wouldn't break my heart but, I think Kumiko will always be in my heart. She'll do the right thing." He grabbed the cup from my side-table and dashed off to refill it with water.

The thought ran through my mind constantly. It was the fact that Kukai never answered my question.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	18. A Perfect Day, Ruined

**Charlie: Uhm...KK Idk how to explain this but the previous chapters 18, 19, & 20 (As of May 27,2010) have been deleted. Haha...Not really. Okay so that means, you guys with have to reread chapter 18~! Which is this chapter right here~! Okay so basically, I involved my personal life and all these whacky ideas into my story. You guys were right, I was mushing all the events together and it felt rushed-AGAIN~! **

**Lolz anyways, I'm rewriting the chapters because the drama started at chapter 18. So that means: no Kuroi, no Mimori going away, no breakup, no finding out Arthur's chara-yet, and well it's just going to be changed. The whole story line~! Okay not the whole thing...Sorry I kind of just ruined your day or possibly made it, but I just really needed to do this as a author. I mean, excuse my language, but chapters 18-20 were just crappy. I mean come on, I'm not the only one who thought that right?**

**So here we go again, please enjoy chapter 18 and the many other chapters to come~!**

**Today's Poll: What woud you like to see happen in this story? **

**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
**

* * *

Kukai went home that evening. I stayed in my bed with my eyes locked on the ceiling. Mimori was off in the bathroom getting me a new towel to put on my burning forehead.

"Kumiko? Are you okay sweetie?" Without knocking, Airi stepped into my room with a pipping hot cup of milk tea. My favorite.

"Not really, I think it's getting worse." She passed me the cup of milk tea and took a seat on the edge of my bed.

"Well you're staying home tomorrow. My goodness, your forehead is burning!" She brushed my bangs away from my sweating forehead and took the empty cup away from my hands.

"It's okay. I'm sure I'll be able to go to school tomorrow." I sat up to only be pushed back down by Airi.

"Kumiko you need to be careful. Rest is important when you're sick." She made me think of the mom I never had and I began to cry. My mom was never there for me, let's admit it. I mean she was there but after so many years, it felt like she was drifting farthur away.

"Oh sweetie, what's wrong?" She cooed at me with a light whisper and patted my hand gently.

"I don't know Airi. It's just, I miss my mom so much. She left us and after all these years she acts like the victim and wants me to go to her wedding."

Airi nodded as if she had had the same personal experience. "Kumiko, she's your mother. You may feel like she abandoned you but she never forgot about you. You're your own mother's child. I may not be a mother but I know well enough that a mother doesn't forget her child-ever."

She gently wiped away my tears and gave out a sigh, "I want you to go to that wedding Kumiko. Give your mom some peace of mind. She worries about you Kumiko."

I nodded even though I didn't believe a word of it. "I need some rest. I really want to go to school tomorrow."

Airi nodded and patted my hand one last time before leaving, "Good night sweetie. Sweet dreams."

A few seconds later, Mimori flew over with an awfully dry towel and placed it on my head. "I thought she would never leave."

I laughed and motioned for Mimori to take a spot on my bed next to me. That night, all I could think about was how Airi's words had touched me. If my dad didn't get married with her, I don't know what I'd do without her.

~.!.~

**Kukai's POV**

I was able to sleep a wink that night. I kept thinking about Kumiko and wondered if I should've stayed at her house. But I also felt so embarassed for saying such cheesy things to her. I slammed my pillow into my face and threw it across the room.

My hair was a mess and it wasn't a surprise, since I was tossing around all night.

"Kukai! Get your skinny ass out here!" I practically groaned at Kaido's voice. I was not in the mood for pranks. Not today.

I traudged out of my room trying to look normal but my eyes were just so heavy. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who noticed.

"What happened to you?" Rento snorted in disgust. What a prissy. "What'd you say? _Prissy?"_

Kaido chuckled and patted my back, "The boy's tired. He's been sleep-talking for the entire night, give him a break, _prissy."_

Unkai had just walked out of the bathroom and found it necessary to join in on the conversation. "'_Kumiko...Kumiko...You've got pretty eyes...'"_ I flinched at the immitation of my voice and felt a blush creep up my face. All of my brothers except Shuushi, pursed their lips at me.

"Oh stop it! I had a hard time sleeping lst night! You can't blame me! I mean this isn't a bad as the time Unkai farted his ABC's in his sleep!" Everybody turned to to face Unkai in unison. Even Shuushi gave out a laugh from behind his book.

"Whatever, grab a piece of toast and get off to school you slacker." Kaido pushed me and I backed up to grab a piece of toast just before I left.

**Kumiko's POV**

My fever was almost gone that morning. Thank God, 'cause I did not want to have a retake of that morning.

**That Morning**

_"Kumiko, you've been moaning all night." My dad had stared at me from above his papers. _

_Clearly, Airi had heard the moans too and she blushed. "Really? What did I sleep-talk about?" I asked with no shame in my voice._

_"Kukai? Is that it Airi? Was it Kukai?" My father turned to ask Airi who had apparently made herself busy with stacking plates. "Anyways, I feel that this is a bit awkward. I mean you're my baby girl! I think-"_

_"Oh shoots, will you look at the time? Kumiko you better be off or you'll be late!" Airi rushed me out the door and handed me a slice of bacon. "Thank goodness that's over." She gigged and waved to me befoe I disappeared into the crowd._

**Present Time**

Oh God, did I not want that to happen ever again! Mimori floated at my side and perked up suddenly.

"What-"

"Hey, how's it going?" Kukai wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I stared at the piece of burnt toast that hung from his mouth. He was obviously staring at the piece of bacon hanging out from _my_ mouth. "Nice piece of bacon you got there."

I laughed and nodded, "That's an amazing piece of toast...Do you eat burnt toast every morning?"

He nodded and gave me a playful wink. I blushed and broke off half of the bacon hanging from my mouth. "You want some?"

He stared at the piece of bacon then back at me, "Sure," He ripped off half of his toast and handed it to me, "Toast?" I nodded and we both ate on our way to school.

I felt so rejuvenated when Kukai had grabbed my hand. The weather had made it especially nice since it was bright and sunny. It was cute that Daichi and Mimori were getting along too.

Mimori and Daichi stopped suddenly and looked around urgently for something. "What's up Mimori?"

She glanced back at me and then at the school. I searched for something but I couldn't find anything. Then I laid eyes on a swarm of x-egg towering above Seiyo's main building.

"X-eggs..." Kukai held on to my hand tighter and we both nodde as we ran to join the other Guardians.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	19. Rumors Spread

**Charlie: Kk, Um...I'm working on my chapters. I think I'm just going to make this story mellow for a while then make another event happen. So...Idk...Trying to think. Lolz like that's hard but...Um...Yeah...Don't have much to say today~! I just won't be updating soon cuz I have Summer School and yeah. It takes up my time and honestly, I don't need to be there. Ugh, anyways, enjoy and peace~!  
**

**Today's Poll: Who's your favorite female Shugo Chara character? (Ex. Amu, Yaya, Rima, etc.)  
**

**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
**

* * *

"Amu! Amu!" I waved my arms frantically in the arm, trying to get Amu's attention. She had character transformed with Ran and I was envious of how cute she looked…All pink and frilly.

Amu glanced down at me from up in the sky and gave me a short wave. Kukai had already ran over to Tadase, who transformed with Kiseki, and they both were huddled up.

Rima and Yaya were transformed as well and they both were trying to distract the mob of x-eggs so Amu could get an opening.

I looked around once again and noticed that everything was in ruins. The flower beds were barely full and even the surviving flowers looked torn and dead. The ground below us had a few cracks in them and trash was flying all over the place.

I didn't notice that Mimori was poking at my shoulder until she stuck her tiny finger in my ear. I yelped with surprised and gave her a death glare.

"We got to help them Kumi-chan! We're the only one's watching." I glanced around and everyone, including Kukai, were already placed in a battle position.

I nodded and Kumiko went back into her egg. I cupped the egg in my palms and let it absorb into my chest. An aura of shining blue wings surrounded me. I twirled around as my transformation began. I was suddenly draped with a tunic like Mimori but it was longer. A long golden staff with a gleaming crystal star perched on top was equipped in my hand. My hair stayed its winter night shade of black but a circlet with a star in the middle was around my forehead.

"Let's get some!" I heard Mimori giggle from inside me as I floated up into the air. I twirled my staff in my hand and cast it down from the top of the x-eggs. A silhouette of stars blasted from my staff and surrounded the x-eggs like a rope. "Stary Essence!"

I watched as all the x-eggs had slowly faded back into their pure form. The sight had always touched me somehow. I had floated back down to the ground and watched the eggs return home.

"Su," Everyone was looking at Amu as she character transformed with Su to become Amulet Clover. She held a whisk in her hand and started to twirl around with it under a substance that looked like honey, surrounded her.

"Remake Honey!" The honey had spread throughout the school and fixed everything. It was amazing. Amu was amazing.

A few second later, I had snapped out of my transformation and so did everyone else. We all congratulated each other and decided we were already late for 2nd period.

"That was some show you put out there." I glanced at Kukai as we were walking down the halls.

"Well we needed to stop them. It's not like I tried to amuse everyone." I frowned hoping he didn't think of me as a showoff. I mean it was the only move I knew how to do!

"No I meant it in a good way. You were amazing. Plus I liked that crown thingy on your head." He poked my forehead and I staggered backwards just a bit.

I smiled at him and poked his forehead back. "Well I liked that pair of goggles on your forehead as well."

He smirked at me and opened the door to our 2nd period. Everyone had turned their attention to us and then, like nothing happened, they went back to doing their bookwork.

"Did we do something?" I whispered over to Kukai as we walked over to our seats. He sat down in front of me and shrugged his shoulders.

Were they staring at us because they saw what we did with the x-eggs? No, they couldn't. The drapes on the curtains were closed.

**After 2nd Period**

After 2nd period had ended, I made my way to the girl's locker room and gave Mimori the signal that it was okay to come out.

She popped out from her egg and rubbed her eyes. "Transforming sure takes up a lot of energy. But we did do a good job." She gave me a thumbs-up and I poked her tummy playfully.

"It was all thanks to you Mimori." I smiled cheerfully at her.

I heard a few voices from the hallway and cupped Mimori into my hands as I dashed into a stall.

"Can you believe her? Gosh, she walked into the room like everything's okay. Well it's not okay!" I peered from the tiny creak in the door and saw two girls glaring into the mirror.

"I know right? I hear she's got connections with Hinamori Amu. No wonder she thinks she's all that." The dark blue haired girl had been in my 2nd period. Her mouth was pouted and her eyes were full of annoyance.

"I wonder how she got so close to Hinamori. I mean she's not all that great. Her hair is always a mess by 2nd block and plus, her clothes are always wrinkled." The blonde haired girl next to her had crinkled her nose in disgust and slammed her fist onto the sink counter. She was from my 4th period.

"Yeah and why would Kukai be with _her_. I mean there are so many better looking girls and like he had never shown interest in girls before. Like what a tease!"

My fists clenched tighter. It was one thing to talk sass about me, but it was another thing to talk about Kukai. I was about to open the stall door and outburst at their stupid conversation before all things went quiet.

I peered at an angle and saw Amu walk in with an angry expression on her face. She roughly brushed against the two girls and glared at them like it was their fault.

"H-Hinamori…" Yelped the dark blue haired one.

"Amu…" The blonde one had linked arms with her friend and dragged her away from the fuming Amu.

After a moment or two, Amu had casually strode over to the stall where I hid and knocked on the door. "Kumiko, you can come out now." I opened the door slowly and hugged Amu.

"I'm so sorry for letting people talk about you that way. Those brats don't know half of what they're talking about." I glared over at the sink counter where the two girls had stood.

Amu patted my shoulder and gave me one of her cute smiles that seemed to soften everything. "It's okay…" Her face fell with sadness, "Well it comes with the whole 'Cool & Spicy' title…"

We both burst out laughing and walked over to the counter to wash our hands. "You shouldn't worry about what they say Kumiko." I glanced over at Amu as she turned off the faucet, I followed suit.

"I don't-"

"You will…" She had leaned against the counter and watched as her charas played with Mimori, chasing each other around in the bathroom. "It hurts when people say stuff about you. The bad stuff, that is. It doesn't get you at first but it'll find a way to get in and…It hits."

I continued to stare at her. "But this is the first time that I've heard people talk about me."

She shook her head and stared up at me, "It isn't the first time that I've heard it."

I nodded calmly. "This isn't a big deal Amu. I mean I know that people gossip about others but it'll go away soon. You don't have to make this a S.O.S situation."

She drummed her fingers against the counter, "We'll see about that."

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	20. Maybe

**Charlie: BAH~! Gosh, just when I was on a roll I come out with this. I think I'm having some writer's block again but I'm not going to quit~! I will conquer this story~! MWAHAHAHAHA~! Okay...I'm good...I hope you guys will accept this chapter even if it kind of sucks. I mean I think it sucks but it's the best I can come up with now. I just don't want to give up on the story so here we go~!  
**

**Today's Poll: Who's your favorite female Shugo Chara character? (Ex. Amu, Yaya, Rima, etc.)  
**

**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
**

* * *

My mind went completely blank after Amu left. I decided to just calm myself before leaving for next period.

I let the water run as I stared at myself in the mirror. What was I doing so wrong? Did I have no right to date Kukai without anybody talking bad about me behind my back?

"Ai…" I let out a deep sigh and turned off the faucet. Straighting my skirt, I opened the girl's bathroom door and put on a smile.

"Hey Kumiko! What took you so long?" I turned on my heel and felt relieved to see Kukai smile so brightly.

I gave a small wave but couldn't help but feel the stares dig into my back. "Should we walk to our next period?"

He nodded and gave me his signature thumbs-up. "Alrighty!"

~.!.~

Kukai closed his math book with a sigh of relief. "Man, that was intense. How about you?" He turned and chuckled. "Guess you weren't even paying attention, huh?"

I turned away from the long, arched window to stare blankly at Kukai. "Huh?"

"Um…Is something wrong Kumiko? You've been out of it for a while now." He cupped my hands in his and tilted his head in curiosity.

"Nothing's wrong." I choked out. "Let's go to the Royal Garden!" I got up from my desk in an awkward manner and tripped onto Kukai. He stood his ground and held me at the waist before I slipped to the ground.

"Kumiko are you really okay? We could skip today's meeting—"

"No no! I wanna go." I pushed myself away and brushed my bangs away from my face.

"Gosh, did you see that desperate move? What a skank." I turned around and watched two girls mutter to each other. As soon as they saw me staring at them, they scampered out of the room in a hurry.

"Kumiko?" Kumiko was shaking me by the shoulders. "Are you listening to me?"

"No…I'm not." I stared up at his dark green eyes and ran my fingers through my hair. "I'm sorry. I'm just not in it today. But I really do want to go to the Royal Garden. Please?"

He nodded and slipped his arm around my waist, "You betcha!" He let me rest my head on his shoulder as we walked towards the Royal Garden. "And don't you ever forget that you can always lean on me."

I wanted to tell him about those girls talking about me. Kukai was my best friend and I trusted him but I felt like I had to handle this by myself. I couldn't bring myself to let him get into my dirty work.

~.!.~

"Now, for today's meeting…"

"Hey Kumiko are you okay?" Amu nudged me with her elbow as Tadase was talking about important news and such.

I brought my hand to my forehead and sighed quietly, "Not really. There were some girls in my class who were talking about me again. Was it ever like that when you started going out with Tadase?"

Amu giggled and held her arm behind her head in embarrassment. "Um…Not really. People were actually happy that we were going out."

My face dropped and she giggled even harder. "I told you it would hurt. But you don't have to worry. I mean since you're in the higher grade, I'm sure the girls are always like that. I mean Kukai is very popular with the girls."

Amu was blushing and probably embarrassed for saying that my boyfriend was popular among the girls. Rima on my other side had nudged me and leaned into me. "Plus, I hear he's a player." She waggled her eyebrows in a teasing way. Amu leaned over me and pushed Rima playfully.

"Rima you're so silly!" Amu's face turned serious, "I hear he's a sugar-daddy."

"Ehhhh?" I covered my mouth as Tadase, Nagihiko and Kukai looked over at me with interest. "I'm sorry." I whispered and they got back to business.

"Very good observation Amu. He is quite popular among the lower grade levels as well." As if on cue, Yaya looked over at us and smiled.

"Whatcha three talking about?" Yaya leaned into us and gave us her puppy-dog eyes.

I waved my hand, "Yaya I think you should go—"

Rima rubbed her chin like a corny detective. "Yaya, what do you think of Kukai?"

"RIMA!" Amu and I smacked Rima and felt Kukai stare at me with a playful smirk.

"Uh…He's like my older brother!" Yaya grabbed the last cookie from my plate and giggled. "You didn't think I would say that he's a sugar-daddy did you?" Her face became menacing as she turned to water the plants.

"Uh…Um…Uh…Rima! You shouldn't ask people that!" I scratched my nose in effort to block the deep blush forming on my face.

"Well it can't hurt to know what other girls think, right?" Rima pursed her lips as if showing she wasn't ashamed of her stubborn side.

I sighed and laughed. "I guess…But that doesn't help me with the whole 'girls talking behind me back' thing."

Rima's eyes widened as she glanced over at Amu. "You know about that?"

My face fell, "Of course I know!" I drummed my fingers on the patio table, "But it's not something I'm proud of."

"Of course not. It hurts when people talk bad about you. What did you think it would feel like?" Rima munched loudly on one of her cookies.

"Kumiko, you just have to live with it for a while. Things will die. I mean people can't make you the center of gossip forever." Amu patted my shoulder and offered me her last cookie.

I took a bite of the cookie, "I guess…Maybe I'm just overreacting."

"Maybe…" I looked over at Rima who was now listening to Tadase and the others conversation.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	21. Girls Undercover!

**Charlie: Kk, gonna keep it short~! Won't be publishing for a while due to some problems. Family ones. Plus I got summer school so that pumps it up even more~! UGH~! Sorry but I hope you guys make this one last till the next chp.~!**

**Today's Poll: Who's your favorite female Shugo Chara character? (Ex. Amu, Yaya, Rima, etc.)  
**

**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
**

* * *

The Guardians' meeting was over and everyone left for home. I quickly reached up to Rima and grabbed at her boney elbow. "Rima!" I steadied myself and tried to catch my breath. "Rima…What was that?" I gestured over to the Royal Garden.

Her face fell blank and innocent with a bit of pity. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you sounded like you knew something that Amu and I didn't. I want to know what it is."

A cold chill whooshed past us both as we were staring at each other with blank glares. The only sound came from the rushing of cars and the tiny giggles of elementary kids.

"I need to get home so if you don't mind." She spun on her heel and walked away from me. I quickly grabbed her elbow again and forced her to face me.

"I want to know what's going through your mind. Tell me." She closed her eyes as if annoyed with my persistence.

"Look, Kumiko," Her eyes fluttered open, "The best thing you can do right now is to either go directly to the root of the problem or you can choose to ignore the problem and wait for it to subside."

"So you're saying I should find the person who started this thing?"

Her eyes had reflected the smirk on her fair face. "I didn't say that was your only choice." She started to walk off again and this time she waved with a friendly smile. "Hope you like playing detective."

~.!.~

"Kumiko, dear, you have a phone call." Airi walked in with a piping hot cup of cocoa and hand me the phone. She stood by my bed after she set down the cup and watched me with worried eyes.

I put the phone call on hold, "Airi you okay?" She nodded and excused herself from my room without a word. I turned the phone on and placed it to my ear, "Hey Kukai, sorry I couldn't—"

"Kumiko? Who's Kukai and did I hear that lady call you dear? My, things have changed." My mother on the other line tsked her tongue as if she disapproved.

"What do you want?" I asked bitterly.

She gasped dramatically then giggled like nothing was out of the ordinary, "Well, I just wanted to tell my daughter that she'll be coming to my wedding this weekend. I've already told your father and don't worry, I paid for the ticket. You'll be staying with me and Wes for 2 days! How exciting." My face scrunched up at the sound of her happy squealing.

"Yeah…Well I'll be there but don't expect me to give my blessings." I took a smug sip of my cocoa with bitter feelings as my taste buds enjoyed the sweet taste.

"Oh Kumiko, Wes just thinks you'll love his son and daughter, or rather, your new step-brother and sister! Joy, joy, joy!"

For minutes after, my mom continued to inform me of her _wonderful_ wedding but I couldn't help but feel my heart sink every time she brought up how happy he was. Luckily, she told me she had to go just before she got started on the dresses and hung up on me.

I plopped down on my bed and gave Mimori one of my tired faces. She sighed and snuggled up to me. "She's happy Kumi-chan, you shouldn't be so distasteful about this. After all, your dream is to finally move on with all your bitter memories behind."

I nodded and squeezed one of my pillows to my chest. "I know, I just feel like she's forgetting me and everything else she started off with. I don't need an American dad!"

Mimori patted at my hair and braided bits of my strands, "Your mom will never forget you. A mother will never forget one's own child. And don't forget that I'm your guardian angel. You also have your dad and Airi who love you to bits! You are blessed."

I laughed and poked Mimori in the stomach with my pointer finger, "Oh quit the wise talk. I like it better when you're silly." We both laughed until my dad came in and told me to stop laughing at myself 'cause it was scaring him. We both laughed at that too.

~.!.~

"Kukai, do you mind showing me some pointers for soccer?" My elbow was linked with Kukai's as we were heading to lunch but the dark blue haired girl I saw in the bathroom grabbed Kukai and batted her fake mascara eyelashes.

Kukai chuckled and got pulled away from me by the blue hair girl, "Sure Ayane, I'd be honored to." She giggled with enthusiasm and smirked cheerfully in my direction. Before she could pull Kukai away from me I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Kukai, I think I'm a bit sick. Can you take me to the nurse's office real quick?" I lowered my eyes in embarrassment. I felt shamed for using such a lame excuse just to keep Kukai close to me.

I just knew he was quirking his eyebrows, "Kumiko…" I felt him tense then loosen up, "Ayane, do you mind if I take Kumiko to the nurse's office?" I felt a rush as he pulled me even closer to him and smile at Ayane with his famous smile, "After all, she's my favorite girl."

Ayane's face fumed but remembered who she was facing and smile, "Oh, excuse me for barging in. Well, maybe you can help me after school today?" She flipped her long blue hair and giggled.

Kukai looked confused but nodded, "Sure, just meet me at the soccer field, okay?"

Ayane nodded and skipped happily away. My face fumed with anger. What was she up to?

Kukai pulled me away from him pressed his lips into a straight line, "What's up? You aren't sick so you better tell me what's wrong or I'll tickle you to death!" He wiggled his fingers as if ready to tickle me.

"I-It's nothing. I'm totally fine!" I smiled and twirled around with fake joy.

He stroked his chin as if thinking hard, "Hm…You look okay but maybe," He began to tickle at my sides and I gave out with bursts of laughter in front of everyone. "You need a good tickling!"

"Hahaha! Stop~! Stop~! Everyone's watching!" He finally stopped and dragged me along to one of the lower level classes.

Of course, Amu and the rest of the gang were there but I was really happy to see them.

"Kumiko! You look torn!" Yaya rushed over to me and pinched my cheeks even though I was older than her. Amu followed and pursed her lips with confusion.

"How is she sad? She looks fine to me." Amu leaned in closer to me and examined me closely. I felt Kukai tense up again.

Yaya tsked and glared at Kukai, "What did you do, mister? You better start explaining or I'll send my duckies on you!"

Rima pushed Yaya out of the way and inspected me like Amu, "Ehh~! Apparently someone's jealous."

Amu shot up with wide eyes, "Is that true Rima?"

Rima nodded her head, "Aren't you a jealous thing?"

I blushed furiously and pushed Kukai towards Nagihiko and Tadase. "I-I am!" I burst out quietly so that the guys didn't hear.

Yaya returned and hugged me tightly, "Tell Yaya what happened!"

I smiled and caressed her light brown hair, "Well, there's this girl who was flirting with Kukai out in the hallway and…"

All three girls moved in closer with wide eyes, "Annnnddd~?"

"He didn't notice one bit! He was like a rock and told her he'd meet her after school to help her with _soccer!"_

Once again in unison, "Noooooo~!"

I nodded, "Yes!"

Rima stepped back and smirked, "Well, we'll just have to spy on them won't we?"

The other two girls nodded with the same mischievous smirks.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	22. Not Worthy

**Charlie: Um...So here we are folks~! At the climax~! Is that right? Climax? We're at the climax of the story~! I don't really know but this story is coming to an end...Soon. I'm thinking about writing a sequel so you guys better look for that~! Haha, man...You guys are all probably upset~! But I promise, a sequel is in progress~! So enjoy this one and look out for the sequel~! Thank you all~!  
**

**Today's Poll: Should I write a sequel?**

**Today's Word of the Day: Sequel (lolz couldn't help myself~! .)  
**

**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
**

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The school bell rang as if it was mocking me. Rima had come up with a plan to spy on Kukai and Ayane. If Amu and Yaya weren't so persistent with the convincing I've wouldn't have agreed to this. I felt dirty and horrible. What if they caught us? The look on Kukai's face would haunt me forever.

I hid my face in my hands and sighed deeply. I didn't dare move from my desk and decided to stay put until I was sure everyone went home. Including Rima, Yaya and Amu. I glanced out the window and saw Kukai standing in the middle of the soccer field bouncing the ball on his thigh.

We were completely different people yet I was drawn to him without a fight. A sudden speck of blue hair ran over to Kukai and took the ball from him. I watched with jealous eyes as she ran around the field giggling and Kukai chased after her. They looked like they were having fun.

Ayane could relate to Kukai more. They were both on the soccer team and both excellent players.

"KU-MI-KO~! Why are you sitting there?" Yaya barged in and stomped over to me with an angry face. "Do you know how long we've been waiting for you?"

Amu came in after Yaya and took one look at my face to sense the situation of the situation. She calmly walked over to Yaya and whispered something in her ear. Something that sparked Yaya's attention quickly. She nodded her head and dashed out the door with a hurry.

Amu giggled, "I told her there were some sweets in at the Garden." She stopped smiling after she noticed how tensed I was. "What's wrong, Kumiko? I've never seen you like this."

I closed my eyes and felt the cold prickle of the tears forming at the corner of my eyes. "I don't know him at all. Ayane is more suited for him. They both play soccer and they look so happy together. I don't think I've seen Kukai look so happy."

Amu's face grimaced and she slapped my face in a swift motion. I placed my hand on my cheek in a gesture of hurt. Her face contorted and scowled at me with every bit of disgust in her body. I felt so stupid.

"How can you say that? The reason you date someone is because you like them enough to want to get to know them better! You start off knowing nothing but the more time you spend with them, the more you love about them! You may not have the same hobbies as Kukai but he loves you! He looks at you in a way that no one can explain! Don't you dare say that again!"

I sat there shocked and fazed. The tears kept falling from my face with no plan in stopping. It was true, I didn't know anything about Kukai at all but I did learn different things about him the more we hanged out. He did love me. His eyes, they wanted to look at me forever. His heart, belonged to me and yet I was so oblivious to even realize the simplest things.

"I failed…" My mouth quivered as I felt the truth come out. "I don't deserve to be his girlfriend if I can't even tell how much he loves me. I need to make myself worthy of him."

Amu's face softened but she still looked at me with a bit of disgust. "You are too worthy of Kukai. It's not your decision to decide if you're worthy of him or not. It's Kukai's."

I shook my head, "Amu, I'll become someone Kukai will be able to love but right now, I can't even tell how much his heart loves me. I love him, I do—"

"Then continue to love him you idiot!" I snapped my neck towards Amu who was crying. Her eyes were shaking and her fists clenched up. "You're not making any sense! If you love him why do you want to stop the relationship you have with him?"

"Because I'm not there yet. A level where I can understand every bit of Souma."

She pounded her fist on my desk and continued to let her tears fall on my desk, "B-But you love him. Isn't that all you need? You'll understand if you stay with him! I promise!"

I got up from my seat and hugged her tightly like she was my own sister. I gently brushed her light pink hair and stifled my tears, "Amu, you don't need to promise anything. It won't matter anyways."

She picked up her head from my chest and sniffed, "What? Of course it'll matter! I'm supporting you! I won't let Kukai's love be in vain!"

I giggled a bit even though it was unnecessary in this situation, "I'll be attending school overseas. That means I won't be coming back for a while…"

She back up from me and wiped her tears away, "W-what?"

I nodded with pity in myself, "My father and Airi think it's best if I help my mother out with her newborn. My sister…"

Her eyes widened, "Sister? B-But don't you have like a step-brother and sister to help her instead?"

I grabbed my bag from the back of my chair, "She's my mom and that's gonna be my sister. Family always comes first."

I walked over to the door and listened to the last sniffs of Amu's crying before I closed the door to the classroom and created a wall between me and my Guardian friends.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	23. It's Over

**Charlie: So here we are~! In the midst of ending the story~! It is coming to an end but not quite yet~! Right now, I'm thinking of some ideas for a side-story or two. I really want to do that before I end Part One of Fallen Star. So, please look forward to that as well~! As for the sequel, it's all a bit blurry but it's in progress for sure~! Thanks for reading and enjoy~! See you at the next chapter~! **

**P.S. Thanks for all the reviews~!  
**

**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
**

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The next few days after I had made Amu cry were not to my liking. It was like playing an intense game of hide-and-seek and Amu was the only one who knew why. Everyone was easy to avoid but Kukai was a completely different story. Since we were in the same class and grade, I couldn't really drift away but I tried.

After all, drifting away now would be easier than having to do this later. When I got off the phone with my mom, Airi and my dad were bickering in their room. The next morning, they confronted me at the front door and told me it was best if I went to stay with my mom for a while. Of course, my father and Airi wanted me to stay but they wanted to make sure that things would go well, considering that it was my mother we were talking about.

I didn't really have a say in anything and agreed without thinking. For the past few days, I had prepared for my trip to the U.S. I didn't need much since I'd be returning two days after the wedding was held. My dad and my mom had talked about me staying with her and she agreed in a heartbeat. According to the plans they agreed on, I'd be returning to the U.S. after the school year was finally done.

It would be quite a while until that happened and harder for me to avoid my friends.

It was free period and Kukai decided to take me down to the lower levels so we could hang out with the rest of the Guardians. I refused and told him I was busy with some other things like homework but he didn't believe me at all.

"Kumiko, you've been ignoring me for the past few days. It was like hanging out with a ghost. What's wrong?" He leaned closer to me and gave me a little pout.

I shook my head and still refused to look him in the eye, "I really do have homework," I grabbed a random piece of paper from my bag and laid it out on my desk, "See, it's was last night's English homework. I was taking a long bath and drifted off to sleep so I forgot." I gave out an awkward laugh, waiting for him to join me but he didn't.

"Kumiko, we didn't have English homework. I should know, I'm in your class." His voice was menacing and obviously angry. I didn't dare look at him now. He lifted my chin with his finger and looked me straight in the eyes with his gentle green eyes. "What's really wrong Kumiko?"

I gently pushed his hand away from my face and shook my head, "I'm sorry. I got to go, tell everyone I said hi okay?" I grabbed my bag and dashed for the door before he could stop me again. I ran until got to the stairs that no one used. I took a seat on the stairs and began to sob.

"Oh look what we have here? Little miss, I-think-everyone-likes-me." I turned around to see Ayane and her friend smirking down at me.

"W-what do you want?" I wiped the tears away from my eyes and glared at them.

She gave out one of those evil laughs that made her look older than she was. "I'll have you know that Souma had so much fun with me yesterday. If only you were there, Kumiko." She leaned down towards me and cackled.

"I'm sure you guys had a lot of fun." I rolled my eyes and got up, ready to leave.

She quirked her eyebrow in an unsatisfied way and pushed me down. I fell back and closed my eyes shut. I was going to get hurt because of how I treated Kukai back in class. Karma was punishing me. I deserved this and worse.

A pair of arms wrapped around my waist and hugged me close. _Kukai._ I opened my eyes to find Arthur glaring at Ayane's direction.

"If you two got a problem with Kumiko, you've got a problem with me." He smirked in a cocky way, taunting them to try and piss him off, "Scram!" Ayane and her friend ran away from the scene in a frustrated way.

I pushed myself away from Arthur and narrowed my eyes at him, "I can fight my own battles! Bug off will ya?"

He chuckled, "What set you off? Kukai, perhaps?"

I pushed him out of my way, "Leave him out of this. I just needed so air." I started walking back to my classroom with Arthur following me.

"Really, what did the boy do? I must say, he does a lot of stupid things so don't take it personally." I glared at him and pushed him back.

"Leave. Him. Out. Of. This! Sure he does a lot of stupid things and doesn't know when another girl's flirting with him but I love him! They think it's not hard for me to let him go but it is! It's the hardest thing I've been faced with in my life! So stay out of this. Please!" By the end of my rant, I was crying again and people were starting to look.

Arthur got uneasy and hugged me, caressing my hair. "Hey, it's okay. I don't really get what's happening but—"

"Kumiko? A-Are you leaving me? For _him?_" Arthur and I both turned around to see Kukai in the middle of the hallways staring at us with quivering eyes.

I released myself from Arthur but he pulled me back, "Yeah, she is. What are you going to do about it, Souma?"

I shook my head and struggled to get out of Arthur's reach but he had a tight hold on me. "Kukai don't believe him! I-I…This is a misunderstanding!" I watched with blurry eyes as Kukai shook his head in disgust.

"Obviously, I thought you really liked me Kumiko." He gave out a fake chuckle, "I guess our relationship was one-sided right?"

I shook my head, "Kukai! Please, listen to me! There's nothing—"

Arthur covered my mouth preventing me from telling Kukai the truth. "Souma, even if there wasn't anything between Kumiko and me, I've been thinking of how insensitive you are to her feelings."

Kukai stepped forward in a defensive way, "What the hell do you mean? I've been full of sincere love since the first day we've been going out! You have no say in this you bastard!"

Arthur smirked, "Oh really? Then why were you having such a fun time yesterday with that girl?" Arthur pointed towards Ayane who was cowering behind her friend.

Kukai glanced in Ayane's way and shook his head, "I was just helping her with soccer. There's nothing going on between us. I only love Kumiko."

Ayane didn't look pleased and decided to add more gas to the fire. "Well Kumiko doesn't seem to have the same feelings as you Kukai! In fact, I heard her and Amu yesterday talking and Kumiko said she wanted to break up with you!" Ayane sneered in my direction, "Isn't that right, Kumiko?"

Kukai looked at me with such a hurt expression that it burned through my heart. "Is that true, Kumiko?"

I sank down to the floor and nodded my head in defeat. "B-But, I had a—"

"Well, if that's true, then I guess I have no choice but to end our relationship Kumiko. Sorry for being such a bother towards you." Kukai started to make his way through the crowd. I lifted my head up and glared at Arthur and Ayane before dashing off towards Kukai.

"Kukai! Kukai! Please wait!" I reached out for his blazer but he pushed me off.

His eyes were full of pain and sadness. "Leave me alone."

I backed up and felt myself croak out every bit of pain in my heart. I didn't mean for it to go his way. If only he would listen to me. "Kukai, please listen to me. I'm not with Arthur! I love you and only you! I wanted to break up with you because—"

He knelt down to my level and hugged me in a possessive way, "Don't tell me. Please. My heart hurts too much now." I watched him get up and leave for his next class. He didn't even look back.

And that's why I'm on my trip to America with a broken heart and returning memories.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	24. SideStory One: The Angel and the Boy

**Charlie: HELLO PEOPLE OF THE WORLD~! So I just want to proudly say that this is my first side-story so lets all give a cheer for that~! Idk, but I'm pretty sure you guys can tell who's in this side-story but if you can't, wait till like the last part of the story and you'll know. Hint, hint, green eyes~! Lolz, big one for you there but no more after this~! So, I'm going to kind of make a series of side-stories so you guys will want to like get all pumped up for the next chapter of Fallen Star~! But I hope these side-stories will be to your liking as well~! **

**Thanks for reading and enjoy~! Peace~!**

**Today's Poll: How was the side-story? Good or bad?  
**

**P.S. Thanks for all the reviews~!  
**

**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
**

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There was once a little boy by the age of 9. He was a very sad boy for his father had left his family not too long ago. The boy could not even digest the thought of having to take care of both his frail mother and baby sister. He was not even prepared to be a man yet. It was all too much for his weak, gangly body.

Earlier that day, the little boy had run away from home and found himself sitting on the greenest grass he'd ever seen. The grass must have grown so beautifully because the river supported it by giving it the water it needed.

The boy had been thinking for quite a long time now and was already soaked in his own tears. The boy wiped his nose with the sleeve of his shirt and began to cry once again. Why had his father left him at such a young age? Was it because of him? Every thought had gotten worse and the boy could not want anything more than to throw himself in that river and drown. To die.

The boy staggered as he got up from his sitting position and slowly walked towards the river. He took baby steps into the freezing river and felt its currents make his body stagger. He wanted to die. If his own father didn't like him, life was not worth living at all. All these years, the bond between him and his father had been only one-sided. His father probably got sick and tired of him and finally decided to leave.

The boy stared into the light blue sky and watched the clouds move across the sky slowly. The birds around him chirped as if complaining about the winter chill and the cars nearby were creating unnecessary noise. This world wasn't even worth missing. It wouldn't matter if he died.

The boy began to cry harder because he was scared to kill himself. He just couldn't bring himself to do it but the pain in his heart was greater and took control of him. He leaned back and caught his last glimpse of the blue sky before drowning in the river.

The boy thought that he had not yet died for there was a sudden stomping above him and a bustle of yelling. His mind went blank and black, he was honestly scared. He had drowned and he would live forever in this darkness. Maybe there wasn't a heaven at all.

"Wake up! Wake up! Please!" Slight movement shook his body and wet drops fell upon the boy's cheek. He opened his eyes to see angels but there was only one, a boy with messy dark brown hair and bright green eyes. This boy was younger by a couple of years, it was unbelievable. This was his angel.

"Are you my angel?" The boy wiped the corner of his eyes and felt cold and numb.

The younger boy was practically sobbing. He wiped away his tears and gave the boy a big smile and thumbs-up. "I'm glad you're alive. Your family would've been sad without you!" The young boy crawled over to his side and eloped him into a hug. The younger boy's arms couldn't really wrap his arms around him but he made it work. For such a long time, the boy had never felt someone's warmth.

The warmth of this boy had somehow made him see the world in full view. He would've lost his family if he died. But if he didn't, he wouldn't have met the boy hugging him now. His angel and best friend.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	25. SideStory Two: The Broken Road

**Charlie: YO, YO, YO~! Kk, so this is another side-story but it's a continuation of side-story one~! Make sure to read them in order or you won't get it~! So hope you enjoy it and there's more parts to the side-story after this so please look for that~! Thank you all and love you~!  
**

**Thanks for reading and enjoy~! Peace~!**

**Today's Poll: How was the side-story? Good or bad?  
**

**P.S. Thanks for all the reviews~!  
**

**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
**

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A few years later, those two boys came to be known as Kukai Souma and Arthur Noel. Arthur was now in middle school and treated Kukai just like his own brother. Kukai was just turning into a 4th grader and was as stubborn as ever. Even though they were now grown, both boys refused to grow up and continued to act like their inner child.

"Eh, Arthur you already have this game? Did Auntie buy this for you?" Kukai peered over Arthur's shoulder as he was entranced in the new game his mother had bought for him.

Arthur was struggling with Kukai's weight on his back but he didn't mind. Kukai was like his little brother and he'd do anything for him—especially if he strained his ankle during soccer practice. Arthur was never into sports since he was tall and gangly, but he loved watching Kukai play so energetically during games.

"Hey, stop peering over my shoulder. You'll only fall forward and get hurt again!" Arthur handed Kukai his game and smiled as he heard Kukai laughing as he played Arthur's game.

"Hey, Arthur, how's Mei? Are you two intimate now?" Kukai leaned closer towards Arthur's face and began to purse his lips in a kissing motion.

Arthur blushed and dropped Kukai to the floor on purpose, "Stop teasing me!" Arthur tried to hide his blush by scratching his cheek but nothing could get past Kukai.

Kukai walked closer to Arthur and pointed up at his cheeks, "You're blushing! You must really like her." Kukai made a doubtful sound and looked at Arthur with undifferent eyes, "Do you really like her?"

Arthur blushed again and began to stutter, "I-I…I—She's pretty, smart, funny, cute and nice! I really do like her!" Arthur turned around so Kukai couldn't tease him again.

Kukai walked towards Arthur and patted his back, "Well, as long as you like her."

Arthur nodded and watched Kukai for the whole time as they walked to his house.

~.!.~

"Brwother! Brwother! Michikwo woves woo! Flower!" Arthur's little sister, Michiko handed Arthur one of the several of flowers in his mother's garden. After that one day by the river, Arthur had become the man of the house and loved his sister more than anything.

Arthur smiled down at her and patted her little light brown hair. "Why thank you Michiko, I'll treasure this forever. Do you want to help me and find a nice vase for this flower?" Arthur bent down to his sister's level and watched as her eyes gleamed in delight. He picked her up and carried her to the kitchen.

"Brwother and Michikwo are hwelping! Hwelping!" Michiko was just as lively as Kukai and Arthur couldn't help but think of him every time he spent time with his sister.

His mother on the other hand, was not so lively and spent most of her time in the garden or inside the house. She wasn't sick or anything but she just didn't live her life as she used to do. So it was up to Arthur to take on the household, whether he liked it or not.

"Mother, we're going to use a vase for this lovely flower Michiko picked today." Arthur winked at his sister from behind his shoulder and watched her giggle.

Arthur's mother turned around from watching the TV and gasped in surprise. She held the place where her heart laid as if it would slow the beating. "Arthur…You scared me. You really do look like your father." The tone of her voice was unmistaken ably sad.

Arthur did look like his father. From his dark black hair to his tall height and his bright green eyes but they weren't as amazing as Kukai's. "Mom, the vase?"

Arthur's mom straightened her back as if giving him her full attention, "Oh right! Let me get that." His mother got up from the couch and automatically fell to the ground. Arthur set his sister down and ran over to his mother's side. She got up slowly and laughed. "Not exactly as young and active as I used to be."

Arthur sighed, "Mom, you were never active. You should though so you can stay healthy. This kind of life isn't worth losing your legs." Arthur steadied his mom as she made her way to the couch.

She patted his back as if it was a means of support, "There, there. I'll be fine as is. Now why don't you get a vase for that flower and stop making Michiko scared!"

Arthur glanced at Michiko and picked her up to prevent her from continuing to quiver her chin. "There, there Michiko. Mom's just playing, now why don't we get a vase together?" Just like the child she was, Michiko's eyes gleamed.

~.!.~

The next morning, Kukai came to visit Arthur in the morning but not to visit. "Hey Arthur, going on a date with Mei today? Possibly the amusement park? How about I chaperone you two youngsters?"

Arthur turned and stared at Kukai with a confused expression. "How'd you find out about our date?"

Kukai scratched his head in an awkward way and chuckled, "Well…I've got people on the inside."

Arthur watched Kukai with perplexed emotions. But he chuckled anyways; this boy was just too pure. "Well I'm heading off so…Are you going home?"

Kukai ran over to Arthur before he left the household, "Eh? Didn't I say I was coming? You two could—"

Arthur covered Kukai's mouth and punched him on top the head, "Don't say such inappropriate things in an elderly neighborhood. Have some respect will ya? Your older brother doesn't need you to follow him around."

Kukai shoved Arthur's hand away and glared at him with questionable eyes, "Who's older brother? You aren't my brother I don't care what you say! I'm coming anyways! Like it or not." Kukai stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

Arthur ruffled his hair and laughed, "I guess Mei wouldn't mind a third-wheel." Arthur sighed as if in defeat and gestured for Kukai to pick his pace.

Kukai tugged on Arthur's jacket and gave him a big smile, "You're not going to regret this older brother!"

~.!.~

Kukai definitely ended up being the third-wheel but he couldn't help but think that Mei was acting differently than normal. She wasn't acting like this-

"Kukai you okay?" Mei turned around and gave him a quick smile before eloping Arthur's arm with hers.

"As if you'd care," He muttered under his breath as he followed the two lovebirds.

"Eh, Arthur you want to go into this scary thing?" Mei clutched Arthur's arm tighter after he offered going into the haunted house. Kukai made an annoyed sound and played with the headband on his head. He liked everyone…Everyone but Mei. Something about her made his skin crawl.

Arthur looked down on Mei and smiled, "It's okay, maybe another ride right?" Mei nodded cheerfully and glanced back at Kukai again.

Kukai grabbed Mei's other arm and pulled, "Arthur can we please go into the haunted house? I came with you guys but I want to do something I want!" Kukai gave Arthur his puppy-dog face which always worked and a few seconds later, he agreed hesitantly.

"Mei are you okay with going in? You can wait outside if you want." Mei rolled her eyes and made an annoyed sound from under her breath. She stared up at Arthur and smiled big like the big fake she was.

"Of course! Whatever Kukai wants." She glanced at him again when she mentioned his name and he had to try hard to not run off for the hills. He'd try to get Mei alone and then confront her. No way was she dating Arthur out of pure intentions. She wanted something and he wasn't going to let this girl screw with Arthur any longer.

Kukai grabbed Mei's hand and pulled her into the haunted house and made sure Arthur was far behind. He pushed Mei against the wall and made sure Arthur had passed them before confronting her.

Mei flipped her hair over her shoulder and quirked her eyebrow, "Why Kukai, I never would've thought you had feelings for an older woman like me."

Kukai punched the wall near her face and glared at her, "Why are you dating Arthur? He really likes him but he's the only one who doesn't notice that you're just playing with him. I feel sorry for him." Kukai dropped his fist and backed up.

Mei walked towards him and pulled him to her by his shirt collar, "Isn't it obvious? I like you Kukai. I want you. How about it?" She tilted her head in an innocent way and smirked with interest.

Kukai tried to push her off but she wouldn't budge. "Let go! Let me go you crazy bitch! Let. Me. Go!" Kukai gave one last final shove and sent her flying to the ground. He stared at her body and finally breathed when he saw her stare up at him with daggers.

"You'll regret this Kukai Souma! I'll take what's most important to you! Don't forget this!" She got up and ran out of the haunted house just passing Arthur.

Kukai didn't like the way he was staring at him. "What did you do, Kukai? What'd she say?" He inched closer to Kukai but he only backed up, wanting to create some room for himself.

"Arthur…M-Mei…I-I…She's no good for you!" Kukai was suddenly bursting out to Arthur about what was happening and watched as Arthur's gentle face turned angry and enraged.

"Why are you lying Kukai? Why?" Arthur looked behind him then back at Kukai, "I'm sorry Kukai but I got to find Mei." Kukai watched with streaming tears as Arthur dashed out of the haunted house.

He didn't believe Kukai at all. He thought they were best friends. Right?

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	26. SideStory Three: Dark Horse

**Charlie: Tee Ho Ho~! Lolz I so wanted to say that~! So welcome all readers~! I present to you, with pride and great happiness, the finale of the 3 Part Side-Story~! What will happen to Arthur and Kukai? Mei? And what does this all have to do with the present? Please read on to find out ;)**

**Well I'd like to say that I'm very, very grateful towards AngelTales~! After I had published the side-stories I waited days for reviews but none came. I thought that I did something wrong and that the side-stories were bad. But everyday I checked my email and finally, 3 came in~! AngelTales and reviewed them and I felt so happy~! I was so happy to read that she had woken up that morning to remember about my story when she had lost all hope for Shugo Chara stories~! And I'm really happy that it had cleared some of the questions she had in the past~! Thank you AngelTales~! This one's for you~!  
**

**I'd also like to say that this is the NOT THE END OF THE STORY~! I will be continuing the regular chapters after this Side-Story~! So please be on the look out for that~! I might also put in a spoiler for the Sequel to this story~! So there are a lot of things to look out for~! Thank you for those of you who have reviewed and you can be sure that they bring nothing but happiness to me~! Please don't stop reading and love you all~!  
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**Today's Fallen Fact: (a/n: Haven't done these in a while so I thought I should) The inspiration for Arthur was obviously Ikuto~! Lolz However, the inspiration of the fight between Arthur and Kukai was based off one of the problems in the manga called Kyou Koi wo Hajimemasu~! **

**Today's Poll: How was the side-story? Good or bad?  
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**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
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"Mei! Mei! Please wait up!" Arthur had left Kukai behind at the haunted house to look for Mei. He finally caught up with her at a park where little kids were still playing with their mothers and fathers. For Arthur, it had always been his mother and Michiko.

Mei turned around and surprised him with the tears falling from her face. Her usual calm and gentle face was now contorted in an angry way. He had never seen her like this.

"What do you want from me?" She scowled at him and jerked off the bracelet he had given her for Christmas. She threw it at Arthur with such force that he staggered back with surprise.

"M-Mei, can you explain to me what this is all about? I honestly don't understand what happened back there!" He took a risky step towards Mei and as expected, she stepped back.

Her nose flared as the harsh winds blew through her hair, "Look here, Arthur! I can't stand being around you when that stupid boy is always bugging us!" The corners of her lips turned up in a mischievous way as she let out a cackle, "You want to know what he did to me?"

Arthur nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. It has suddenly begun to feel hot and Arthur was worried.

Mei cackled again before she took big steps towards Arthur so that their faces were almost touching, "He said he loved me this whole time. He said I didn't need you and that he only hung out with us so he could finally make his move on me!" Mei pursed her lips in a coy way and looked up at him, waiting for his response.

"K-Kukai would never do that!" Arthur slowly backed away from Mei. He didn't know what to believe. Someone as kind as Kukai would never do that. Kukai was oblivious to girls! He had never acknowledged him and he acted reserved whenever a girl had confessed to him. Unless…He was crushing on Mei this whole time. Maybe Mei was right.

"Oh ho, but contraire, you see, why do you think he pulled me into the haunted house and didn't even think about waiting for you? He was trying to confess to me you big idiot! In fact, he called me this morning and ask where we were going! And when I didn't answer his feelings, he pushed me to the floor and called me a crazy bitch!" Mei was flailing her arms around and glared menacingly at Arthur.

"B-But, Kukai would never do that! He saved me when I was little I—" Arthur could feel the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. His heart ached and Mei was only making it worse.

She waved her hand as if to wave off the matter, "I know! You've told me so many times already! Get a life you dope! _He_ nor _I_ are connected to you anymore! Arthur, this relationship is done!" Arthur watched with blury eyes as Mei stalked off into the city lights.

~.!.~

"M-Mother, I'm home." Arthur slowly opened the door to his house and staggered towards the couch where his mother laid. He watched his mother's uneven breathing and knelt down to the floor, resting his head on her chest.

His mother's frail hand caressed the hair on his head she hummed an old lullaby. "Arthur, tell your ill mother what's going on in your head. Let me take some of that pain away from you."

Arthur wiped away the light tears from the corner of his eyes and sobbed on his mother's beating chest. "Have you ever felt such a great pain in friendship?"

His mother continued to hum the lullaby with a tone of solemn happiness. "There's a quote that says, 'The ones closest to you are the ones who hurt you the deepest.'" The sound of his mother's laugh confused him. "I have yet to meet someone who has not been hurt this way. Not yet."

Arthur got up and helped his mother up from the couch, carrying her weight on his back. "I understand mother…" Tears fell from his face as he staggered towards his mother's room. He gently set her down on her bed and kissed her cheek before tucking her in for the night. "I understand."

Arthur turned to leave but his mother caught his wrist, "Arthur, things don't always go as planned but if you want something, who's the say they can stop you from getting it?" His mother's dark brown eyes seeped into him and he found himself smiling behind all the tears.

"I understand." He set his mother's frail arm by her side and gave her a weak smile. The most he could manage in his condition.

His mother let out a troubled sigh and shut her eyes, "I'm afraid you don't…"

Arthur lowered his eyes and left his mother's room. Life was too troubling for him. Mei didn't want him and he had the worst feeling of not being able to trust Kukai again. Kukai had done so much for him, yet he couldn't bring himself to smile at his lower classman. Arthur was supposed to be Kukai's hero but instead, God had turned the tables. Arthur had looked up to Kukai; his friendliness, his smile, his athletic personality, and his lively family of brothers.

"This can't be! This can't be!" When Arthur finally reached his room, he began to toss pictures and memories of Kukai and him around the room. He wasn't able to feel the happiness seeping off from the memories. They weren't enough to heal his pain. The wound in his heart was too deep. In fact, it felt as if he was dying.

"Arthur…You musn't be distraught by one blow. You are a man now! A knight in shining armor! We made a pact to follow out your mission and these overwhelming feelings cannot stop you!" Arthur turned around to see his chara, Yuudai wearing his typical black armor. He was, after all, the dark horse.

"Y-Yuudai…I remember how you were born because of Kukai. I owe Kukai so many things and yet, I don't even know his side of the story." Arthur let out a breather before smiling at Yuudai. He was born a few years ago. After Kukai had saved him, Yuudai's egg had been born. Arthur wanted to be the knight that saved Kukai. He wanted to save people.

"Well, the early bird catches the worm so you best be sleeping by now." Yuudai gestured towards the bed and Arthur fell asleep without another tear to shed.

~.!.~

That morning, Arthur decided to go over to Kukai's house and ask for his side of the story. This way, things would at least be half normal again. But…Somehow, Arthur knew that Kukai was innocent. Even though he was against Mei's version of the story, Arthur knew that Kukai would never do such a thing.

Arthur cautiously knocked on the apartment door and backed up for safety precautions. The door opened widely to reveal Kaido, the oldest brother. Kaido looked down on Arthur and gave out a chuckle, "Well, well, well. If it ain't the little scrawny runt who made my lil' bro come back in tears. I ought to beat the shit out of you myself but Kukai and I agreed that he'd do it himself."

Kaido walked back into the apartment and threw open Kukai's bedroom door. There were several loud crashes until Kaido came back with Kukai.

Kukai glared at Arthur and turned his head away in stubbornness. Arthur leaned forward and smiled gently before chuckling, "Um…Kukai, about yesterday…I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you but I'd really like to hear what happened from you so I know who's wrong and who's—"

"So you asked her first? You got her side of the story first? How'll you believe me now? I bet she told a bazillion lies so that you're brainwashed to believe everything she says!" The little Kukai in front of him was missing a few teeth and so innocent looking, but Arthur knew that Kukai was the real knight in their friendship.

"Kukai I want to—"

Kukai pushed Arthur back a bit and lowered his head in shame, "Arthur…Mei called me last night and told me everything you said…About me…About the fight…"

Arthur perked up right away and smiled, "So that means we're friends again?" Arthur reached out to grab Kukai's small tannish hands.

Kukai slapped his hands away and lifted his head to show his quivering chin. _Just like Michiko_, thought Arthur. Kukai was scared. "What kind of sick joke is that Arthur?"

Arthur stepped back, surprised. "W-What do you mean? You said that Mei told you everything. So I guess she's alright now. She was probably just a bit too mad last night—"

"If you didn't trust me you could've said so Arthur…I'm sorry for being such a bother to you. See you around school…Older classman." Kukai lowered his head again and staggered to his room. Arthur tried to run in after him but Kaido and the other brothers blocked his way with glaring eyes.

"You're one sick boy. You think it's funny to make little kids sad? I thought you were better than that!"

"Yeah, you're scum. What a fool you made of Kukai!"

"I'll never forget this, Arthur Noel! Don't you dare take a step towards Kukai at school!"

Arthur couldn't take the threats any longer and ran away. As much as he was a man, he was a mouse. Too scared to do anything but run and hide. Maybe this was why his father had abandoned him. His family had to suffer because of his lack of manliness. All of Arthur's self-confidence seemed to drain so fast. In fact, he felt as though he had lost so much with just two days.

"Arthur! Snap out of it! You are a man and no one can prove otherwise! A man gets back up after he is thrown down! If you have the legs to fight, use them and get up!" Arthur wiped away the tears from his eyes and staggered towards his home with Yuudai behind him the whole way. After all, he was all he had left.

~.!.~

The next few years, Arthur stayed as far away from Kukai as he could possibly go. Years had pasted and Kukai had seemed to let things go but Arthur didn't want a repeat of history so he acted cold and hostile towards him every time he came near. Soon, Arthur had grown so used to the hostility towards Kukai that it had somehow altered his brain. He relived the past years and felt like he had to get revenge on Kukai for taking Mei from him.

Yuudai had become aware of the problem and tried hard to wake Arthur from his deep spell but there was nothing he could do. Arthur was in quick sand and he fell fast. Kukai had grew up to know Arthur as the enemy and his family didn't seem to know Arthur anymore. His mother was still frail but lively in her own sense. She tried hard to discipline Arthur so he would go back to his old self but it was hopeless. Michiko had grown to be a lively girl just like Kukai and Arthur tried so hard to pick fights with her. It was as if she was his punch bag.

When Arthur was finally in high school (second year) and Kukai was in middle school (7th grade), Arthur had finally found a way to seek his horrid revenge towards Kukai. Apparently there was a new girl at school named Kumiko Futari and she was dating Kukai.

Arthur had slowly and slyly taken pieces of her heart and brought her closer to him. The only problem was that he was in love with her. In ways, she resembled Mei and it brought pain to his heart whenever he was with her.

Arthur couldn't even bare to face Kukai whenever they passed in the halls. He had betrayed his best friend and his revenge had brought him nothing but hurt and pain. He didn't know what to do anymore. It was as if all hope was lost. He knew that Kumiko and Kukai really did love each other and yet he still had the guts to take her away from him. But like many years ago, his mother had told him, "Arthur, things don't always go as planned but if you want something, who's the say they can stop you from getting it?"

And Arthur most definitely wanted Kumiko Futari.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	27. Boarding the Plane

**Charlie: YEE HOO~! Things have brightened up for sure~! So lets kick things off with another fresh updated chapter of Fallen Star~! OSU~! Lolz, so I hope you guys enjoy it and I just really want to empathize the fact that THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER OF FALLEN STAR~! I will probably go up to 30? Or more...Depends on how the chapters all fit into place. It's probably gonna be more though. Anyways, enjoy and review~! Thanks~!  
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**Today's Fallen Fact: When I created Airi's chara, I wanted to name it Patch because I wanted her to have the quality of fixing things (emotionally). However, I ended up naming her chara Suki. As in love. Lolz, just telling you~! Man, I love the name Patch~!**

**P.S.: Speaking of Patch. I want everyone to go to the bookstore or your local library and check out/buy the book Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick~! Best dang thing ever~! I swear, Patch is like the hottest fallen angel ever~! No kids~! Lolz to me...Am I a weirdo or what? Lolz don't get that a lot but when I do you know I'm happy~!  
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**Reminder: I do not own any characters from Shugo Chara~!  
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"Kumiko, sweetie, you've got to eat. You're getting skinnier and your bones are starting to poke out from your skin." I poked at the slice of carrot on my plate and puffed out my cheeks to keep myself from crying.

It's been days since Kukai broke up with me. Every time we passed in the hallway, he'd just shrug me off or brush by me coldly. Airi and my dad had no idea what was going on but they assumed it was something worth finding out. I lost my appitete and my will to even get up in the morning. It was usually get up, go to school, rush home, and repeat with indifference.

"I-I've had enough of this. If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room!" I looked up from my plate to stare blankly at my father as he tossed down his newspaper and stomped up to his room. How troublesome.

Airi sighed, troubled. "I'm going to go calm your father. Why don't you go out for some fresh air? Buy something or eat something." Airi walked over to her purse and pulled out her wallet, giving me a few tens. "If it means anything, I want you to know that both your father and I love you very much. I can't wait to be a mother of such a beautiful girl." She leaned down to kiss my forehead and made her way upstairs so she could see to my father's rage.

I clutched the money in my hands and slipped on a light jacket before going out into the city lights. The cherry blossoms were blooming all over the place and every inch of Tokyo was covered in a shroud of cherry blossoms.

"H-How troubling…" I made my way to the closest department store and browsed through the merchandise, not even taking in the clothes and the dozens of people who surrounded me. They made me feel claustrophobic.

"Hey you girl, wanna go have some fun with us?" A high school pulled on my elbow and stared at me with hungry eyes, that of a lion looking at its prey.

I jerked my arm away and scowled at him and his group of friends, "You're pathetic. Boys like you make me hate the male species even more. Get a life, will you?" I stomped away from them and didn't find it surprising that they didn't chase after me. These past few days really did me in.

"Kumiko? Oh my gosh! Tadase, get over here!" Amu stared into my eyes with such a scared expression. "What happened to you? I just saw you 2 days ago and now you look…"

"Horrible? Dead? Tired? Dreaded?" I rolled my eyes and made my way past her. I didn't need this kind of attention. Not at the moment.

"Futari! Are you okay?" I narrowed my eyes at Tadase, daring him to question such a stupid question. His jaw dropped and looked over at Amu for support but she simply shrugged her shoulders.  
"S-Should I call Kukai?"

I could feel myself boil inside as I glared at Tadase, "Leave me alone will you? You guys don't need to hang out with me anymore! You guys only stayed near me because I was dating him right? Well now we aren't so stay as far away as possible! I don't need pity from little kids like you!"

My yelling seemed to have caused a crowd to surround us and their whispering only made my anger worse. Amu's face was flushed and her eyes shook as if she was able to cry. I didn't need this! I didn't need this kind of attention!

I pushed past the crowd and slammed into anyone who didn't make way. "K-Kumi-chan! That was so mean of you! You should eat something. I bet your only acting this way because you're hungry."

I puffed out my cheeks again, trying to prevent myself from crying. I turned around and held Mimori close to my chest. I smiled down at her with tiny tears forming at the corners of my eyes, "Y-You're right! Eating is usually what girls do when they're upset right? Hah, let's go get some takoyaki!"

~.!.~

"…" Mimori watched with a troubled expression as I binged myself with takoyaki. "Kumi-chan…You're getting fat and it's only been 10 minutes!" She tugged on the end of my fork just as it entered my mouth.

I shook my head and chewed on the takoyaki tauntingly. "I wanna get fat!" My lips trembled as I burst out into tears in front of dozens of people.

Mimori placed a finger to her lips and shushed me, "Goodness gracious! You haven't eaten for days and now you plan on binging yourself? This isn't healthy for you! Plus you have to go to America tomorrow! What will you do if you won't be able to fit the dress?"

I pouted and threw the rest of the takoyaki away. "Y-You're right…"

Mimori floated by my side with a proud aura, "Darn right I'm right!"

"But then again…There was a pretty darn good looking ice cream shop back there…" I turned quickly on my heel and dashed towards the ice cream shop but Mimori knew me all too well.

"Wish, star, shooting star!" Mimori had Chara Changed with me in an instant. I laid on the department store's floor, crying my eyes out. My heart had finally burst. After all these months of dating Kukai, I finally realized something. I not only wanted him to be near me, I _needed _him to be near me. He was all I really wanted.

Mimori floated over to my ear and whacked it with her staff, "You've learned your lesson. And now that you've learned what you truly want, what are you going to do about it?"

"I-I'm going to get Kukai back?" I wasn't so sure about this. Did I really have the guts to confront Kukai after he had told me to leave him alone? Was I even worth his time now?

"You are so worth his time!" I covered my mouth in shock as Mimori read my thoughts. She shook her staff at me and giggled, "Guess I forgot to tell you that you speak your thoughts now a days."

I blushed and looked away from my chara. "Well…There's nothing I can do about it now. I have to pack for tomorrow." Mimori nodded and let the Chara Change undo itself.

"Nothing we can do for now."

~.!.~

"Do you have everything?" I nodded with my head lowered. Today was the day I'd be leaving for America. But only for 3 days. Still, I felt somewhat disappointed to be sent off by my dad and Airi. Not that I expected more…Okay I expected to see Amu, or someone. I deserved to have this ending. I'm a horrible person.

"My plane is boarding dad…Airi…I should be off then." It sounded more like a question. I wasn't worried about my mom anymore. I was worried about who'd I become after I boarded that plane.

My dad nodded and pulled me into a tight hug, "Take care of your mother and yourself. We'll be waiting for you to return. We love you very much and that will never change. It has never changed so don't let these past few days bring you down." He held me by my shoulder and stared into my eyes, on the brink of tearing.

Airi pulled me away from my father and hugged me, "Sweetie, I know you've been hurting but you've to shape up and face the world. Life isn't fair and yet, it still has the guts to push us back down. Have the guts to stand back up and face life, I know you can do it." She gently caressed my black hair and let go slowly.

I felt myself crying as I backed up to board the plane. "I-I love you. I-I'm so sorry for acting like this but I-I…My heart's so broken." I clutched my suitcase handle gather as my knees began to buckle at the emotional burst. "I don't know how I'm able to wake up in the morning. I don't know how I'm able to breathe. I don't know how I'm able to get on that plane! I'm in so much pain yet I can still live!"

Airi cooed as she pulled me into another hug. The smell of hot chocolate surrounded me. When was the last time someone gave me so much sympathy? Surely there was always Mimori for that but…But, Airi had that motherly touch that I craved for in times like this.

"Honey," She patted my hair and pushed me towards the direction of the boarding line, "Go to that wedding, have a killer time, and come back home. Set your worries aside for now and when you get back, we'll try to patch things up."

I nodded and wiped the tears away from my eyes, "I come home soon! Wait for me!" They both nodded and I gave my ticket to the flight attendant and dashed into the plane. Letting my worries soar for the time being.

~.!.~

**~Airi's POV~**

"What you did back there made me admire you." Hiroshi looked at me from the frames of his glasses. I smiled and sighed and I watched another plane take off into the air. Just as we exited the airport, something fell from my purse and clattered to the floor.

I dropped to the ground and began to pick up the spare change, "Hiroshi, I'll meet you at the car. Looks like this could take a while." I smiled at him meekly and watched as he nodded and jogged off to the car. "Oh darn, how'd these fall out of my purse?"

"Need some help, Airi-chan?" I raised my head and gasped at the floating figure in front of me. It couldn't be. Out of all things, this was insane. It's been years since and there was no way she could have come back. No way. "Hehe, Airi-chan, you're still the same. Quite the calmer you are now. Too bad I'm a couple of centuries late."

I readjusted my glasses and let out a sigh, "Suki…It's been too long. If only I hadn't doubted myself so much, maybe you'd still be with me today."

Suki floated over and placed a small hand on my cheek, "Sometimes, it's best to move on. Plus, you've got your hands full with that step-daughter of yours. I actually quite like her chara."

I nodded and smiled, "I haven't been able to see her chara but I know of its presence. Is she in good hands?" I picked up the remaining coins slowly trying to stall for more time.

Suki nodded her head and giggled, "Very good hands. However, I'm afraid Kumiko will be in quite a knot after she comes back. Depending on how things go, Kumiko might change drastically bad or she might be able to finally see eye-eye with everyone."

I bit on my tongue, afraid to say anything. "What should I do?"

Suki shrugged, "What else can you do? When you're raising kids, the best thing to do is sit by and let nature take its course. Interfering might meddle and I don't think meddling is good for this situation."

I nodded and picked up the last coin. Time moved too fast. If only I had more time with Suki. After all these years of blaming myself for her lost, I wanted time to make it up to her. Her life was so short and yet during that short life, it wasn't even worth living.

Suki placed her hand on my chest where my heart beat, "My life was really worth living when I was around you Airi. My life was never really something to regret. I'm so happy because I get to live each night with you Airi. I'm still here," She poked at my chest and giggled, "That's all that matters. I'll always be here with you. I won't ever leave you alone."

A few tears trickled down my cheeks and Suki rested her tiny head against my chest. "I miss you so much. Our time has been cut short…If only…" The weight upon my chest disappeared but I could finally lift the blame off my chest and smile freely now. Suki was with me still and she had insisted on it.

At just the right time, Hiroshi pulled over with the car and I got in with a jump in my step. He looked over at me and gleamed, "Did picking up coins brighten your day?"

I nodded and hugged my purse close to my chest. "Yes, it made all the difference."

And as we drove off into that sunny sky, another plane flew over and I just knew that Suki was smiling down on us.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	28. Heartbreak Over Distance

**Charlie: HEY GUYS~! Finally updated this story. I apologize for the long wait. But as most of you know, I am grounded lolz. But my ninja reflexes helped me and I apparently prevailed this time~! So well...Enjoy and just to let you all know...I'm still grounded lolz.**

**BTW: Aurameres, please look on the reviews page (for this story, of course) for my reply to your review. **

**Disclaimer: I, Charlie, do not own Shugo Chara or any of it's original characters. Thanks~!  
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The room they put me in was outrageously small. My body absorbed the coldness that seemed to seep up from the creaking wooden floors. The windows were small and murky so that you could barely see a thing. Ha, boy do I wish that was how the room looked.

Instead, I got this spacious room with light green walls and nice light wood flooring. A queen sized bed was already prepared for me with matching sheets and pillows. And the best thing about the room was the huge window that just invited me over for a view of the garden that lay below.

"Is this okay? Your mother said that you liked the color green so we thought it'd be suitable if everything was green…" Wes was surprisingly everything I expected him to be. The kind gentleman who always opened doors for women and said nice things no matter the case. No wonder my mother fell for him. I would too, if I wasn't myself.

I stared at him as if he was asking to rub my feet and apply lotion to my back. "Uh…This is great. Absolutely great!"

Wes seemed to look unsure but I was anything but unsure. I loved this room to shreds and it sure beat the bumpy ride I had to take just to get here. "Well…If you're okay, I guess I'll make my way down and start up dinner. We'll be seeing you then." He gave a short wave before leaving my stuff at the door, and making his way downstairs.

Wes was a truly gorgeous man. From his dark black hair to his piercing green eyes and his absolutely tall, yet lightly muscular body. Perfect to a t for my mother. Couldn't expect any less from her otherwise.

I grabbed my bag and placed the clothes and other stuff into the beautiful white drawer they prepared for me. The knobs were shiny crystals and they gave out a rainbow of lights every time the sun hit them. Marvelous.

"He's quite nice. I actually think he's intimidated by you." Mimori popped out from behind my shoulder and watched as I organized my under-garments.

"Intimidated? By me? That's silly. And I'm the last of his worries. I'm sure the baby taking refuge in my mother's stomach is a much more intimidating thing." Rather, I was intimidated by the thing growing in my mother's stomach. My mother's stomach practically gave out and bulged from her frail body. Just looking at the thing made me want to puke and whack it with a bat. Obviously, I wasn't going to do that.

"That's true but I'm sure things will be totally fine. After all, look at this room! There couldn't be anything worse than this!" Mimori began to prance all around the room and I couldn't help but watch with sober eyes. I did like this room and I didn't think there wasn't anything wrong with living here but the thought of living with my mother and her new husband just didn't seem right. All these years, I thought that my mother walked out on me because exploring the world was more important. To any child, that would just shatter every living organ in their body.

To make things worse, Wes was super nice to me. I mean, I wouldn't want him to despise me but his kindness always caught me off guard. "I guess…The only thing left is for that son to make his entrance. Nothing but trouble could come from a step-brother. I already have a half-sister."

Mimori stopped her prancing and came over to pat my shoulder lovingly. "There, there. All you need is a nice dinner and a good night's sleep to brush off your worries. No harm done if you also took a nice warm bath."

I raised my eyebrow at her, "Why? Do I smell or something?"

Mimori gave out a laugh, "Possibly but if you do take a bath, please don't be shy as to use the whole bottle of body wash."

I pushed her away wish my index finger and watched her fall onto her back, laughing away.

~.!.~

Thoughts rambled in my mind. I was being a total nuthead! I was losing my pride with every second! Yet, I didn't seem to care as I listened to the rings that seemed to go on forever on my cell phone. Kukai, I needed to hear his voice. Just once—Just once so it could make me feel at ease. I felt so horrible for not being able to clear things up with him. I deserved everything he said to me. Everything.

After several seconds, which felt like years, he finally picked up. His voice sounded like angels singing to my ears. "Hello?"

My deep and heavy breathing couldn't control itself. I wanted to scream out and tell him it was me. To tell him that I longed for him and that I felt so horrible. That I couldn't eat and that I wanted to just hit myself for every bit of sadness in my heart. Although, that's how I felt before realizing that it wasn't Kukai's voice on the other end. It was a girl's and she sounded so pretty. If that was even possible.

"Hello?" She asked again. "Anyone there? If not, I'm going to hang up now—"

"Wait, wait!" I was practically screaming for her to pause and give me a second of her time.

I waited seconds, possibly minutes, before she began to talk again. "Yes? Do you want me to put Kukai on the phone?"

"No…N-no." I was sure my voice croaked. The pain of knowing that a girl had answered his phone was unbearable. I even sounded like a stalker. "But if you don't mind…Could you tell me what he's doing at this moment?"

They was a constant shuffle of movement on the other line and thought she hung up on me. "He's in the bathroom right now. Should I give him a message? I'm also going to need a name."

I paused. Thinking if she would even give him the message. If she did, he wouldn't listen to it after hearing my name. Only one thought seemed to yell out, "What's your name?"

"Utau Hoshina." She sounded confident and I was completely dumbstruck. Of course he was with _her_. They were friends and possibly even more now. It was over for us and I knew it before she even picked up the phone. Though, something in my heart told me that I shouldn't give up. I still had a chance. It was a long-shot but it was a chance.

"I see…Please tell him to eat well and that he deserves better." I didn't even need to think before I hung up on Utau. Kukai would know who the message was from, and if he didn't, well he would think about for a while and let it go.

"Kumiko? I was just downstairs listening to your mother's stomach and the baby was talking to me! She said she can't wait to come out!" Mimori floated into the room and took one good look at me to know that something was horribly wrong. "What's wrong?"

I shrugged and gave out a huge laugh that seemed to make the tension in the room awkward. "I'm totally awesome!"

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	29. The Chills He Gives Me

**Charlie: Kk guys, haven't updated in a while I guess but I'm kind of having some problems with my other story so I'm trying to work that out. Anyhow, I don't think this chapter is all that great and I think I'm rushing it again and I don't think Kumiko has the right emotions in this chapter but I'm low on time...(Due to the fact that the hotel I'm staying at is clearly overcharging internet prices...But whatever) But I will make up for the mistakes in the next chapter which will probably not come out for several weeks or days. **

**Thank you all for reading and once again, your reviews totally make my day everyday. I'm thankful to all my readers and all my new readers. I hope you guys will continue to read my story/stories and please don't refrain from putting your concerns into your reviews. I will try to answer them in the next chp. if there are any. Thank you all~!  
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**BTW: Aurameres, I'll erase the reviews as you please and if you have any further concerns or questions, please don't feel shy as to PM me or review the story with your C/Q.  
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**Disclaimer: I, Charlie, do not own Shugo Chara or any of it's original characters. Thanks~!  
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Today was the day that my step-brother would be coming in and I wasn't so thrilled about it. But I placed a smile on my lips anyways. I had a good feeling that things were going to change for me. I would become a new person here and make new friends and get over Kukai. Utau was good for him. She could support him and I knew that they looked good together anyways.

My mother sat on the edge of my bed and watched me change into the dress she bought me. I didn't really like it, for it had pick roses embordered at the bottom hem of the dress and a nice pick strip of material that wrapped around my waist. The body of the dress was white and seemed too clean for a person like me. Obviously, my mother didn't have the slightest clue that I was just a bit too clumsy.

"Mom, no offense, but this dress seems too fancy for meeting Wes' son. I mean, honestly, we're just going to the airport and then making a trip home. Why get all dolled up for nothing?" I batted my eyelashes in an attempt to persuade my mother.

She however, did not buy it for one second. "Oh don't whine now dear. The dress makes you! You look so cute and you're not the only one getting all dolled up. Wes wants to make a good impression on his son because they don't have a very good relationship at the moment. Please cooperate with us. If only for the day."

I nodded and grunted and I messed with the dress. Maybe if I just got a bucket of mud and spilled it right about—

"We're going! Hurry, hurry!" Wes barged into the room, clearly out of breath. Boy did he want to make a good impression on his son. I wonder what happened between him and his son. Wes seemed to be the nicest man with the biggest heart. Did his son hate that?

"Oh Wes, sweetie, there's no need to rush. Why don't you just—" My mother stepped towards Wes to pat his back lovingly.

Wes ran his hand through his black hair and looked as nervous as ever. "But he's going to be here any minute and…and—"

My mother looked at me and gave me a simple roll of her eyes. Then she turned back to Wes and made shushing noises at him until he finally calmed down. "Deary, Arthur is a big boy now and I'm sure he's going to be—"

My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "A-Arthur?" I nearly screamed but I paced around my room instead. This was clearly just a coincidence. There are a billion kids named Arthur! But how many kids are named Arthur and are half-Japanese? I should've known. I should've known. Wes was clearly an older look-alike of Arthur. I was fooling myself thinking that they didn't look alike.

"Kumiko are you okay dear? You both are shaking like we're stuck in a blizzard! Should I shake too?" My mother gave out an annoyed grunt and stomped out of my room like a childish baby. When she didn't get her way, she always had to make a commotion of things.

"Do you know Arthur, Kumiko?" Wes still looked a bit nervous but he was more collected. The way his eyes gleamed reminded me of Arthur in every way and his silky black hair resembled Arthur to a perfect T.

I nodded my head and wiped the disgusted look off my face. "We go to the same school. I should've known you were his dad. You two look exactly alike." I nearly shivered at the thought of _him_ being my new step-brother. We'd be living in the same house and that wasn't something a girl like me should be thinking of. In fact, if I was some other girl, I would've been jumping off the walls in happiness. Arthur was gorgeous. He was and I'd be fooling myself if I said he wasn't. But I wasn't one of those girls. I still liked Kukai and Arthur just didn't seem to make my heart beat the way Kukai did.

Wes' eyebrows rose all the way up to his hair. He was clearly amused and probably wanted to know the story of how I met his son. Probably thought I had a huge crush on his son too. But I didn't. I had a crush on his son's rival. "Interesting. Maybe I won't have to worry about you two _not_ getting along."

I felt my face scrunch up in disgust but I quickly removed it from my face, "Sure." I said. "As long as he doesn't get into my personal bubble." I muttered under my breath.

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	30. Roses in Red

**Charlie: Hi guys~! I know it's been like forever since I've updated and I'm so sorry~! I just moved and well...I have a lot of things to do before I settle down. I won't be on the comp. very often so instead of posting every week, I'll now be posting like maybe every 3 weeks or later. I can't really fit this into my time schedule and I apologize for the bad quality of this chapter. Honestly sucks...But I could not work my brain today~! Ugh~! But hopefully you guys will accept it and wait patiently for the next chapter~! I'm terribly sorry and I can't wait till things get back to normal again so thank you all very much~!**

**Disclaimer: I, Charlie, do not own Shugo Chara or any of it's original characters. Thanks~!  
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What can I say? The trip was like taking a trip towards Hell itself. Wes kept driving too slowly when mom harassed him to go faster and he drove too recklessly when we both pleaded he'd take a deep breath and relax. Honestly, never in my life have I seen a grown man so scared out of his wits. It was almost disturbing. Arthur clearly didn't get his father's personality.

My mother rolled down the window and stuck her head out like a dog. I could see her face turning towards a pale green and looked away before something worse came along. One thing my mom and I had in common was that we both got motion sickness. Especially if the driver is Arthur's dad.

Through gasps of breaths, my mother choked out, "Wes, dear, slow down! SLOW DOWN!"

I rolled my eyes and glanced out the window, blocking out the weird couple I'd have to live with for the next few years. Thank goodness I'd be going back to Japan after tomorrow. Maybe dad would let me stay with him. I'd tell him my situation and convince him that boys were not what I needed now. Especially since it was Arthur. But I doubt my dad would even consider.

I traced my fingers over the embroidered roses on my dress and sighed. The dreams, they were real. I was being torn apart slowly. Those dreams I had so long ago. The ones where I was being lifted by Kukai and Arthur and then being dropped to the ground. Red…It was such a painful color. The color of blood yet also the color of love. Of course, in love, someone always gets hurt one way or another.

I had been too entranced into the embroidery of roses on my dress, that I hadn't realized that we had parked into the airport's parking lot safe and sound. My mother gave me her trademark smile. The one where her pearly white teeth sparkled and gleamed. Not only did her smile shine but so did her light brown hair. It cascaded down her back like a waterfall. So silky and smooth. I had gotten my dad's looks. Nothing more than a plain Jane.

"We're here, Kumiko. Maybe you should go on and find Arthur while Wes and I talk about road safety." She gave me one of her cute winks and pushed me towards the airport entrance. The crowds intimidated me and scared me out of my wits. Among these people, there was Arthur. The boy who had ruined everything for me. The boy who had put black ink into my beloved red ink. The monster of my dreams.

My hands shook ferociously and my eyes darted everywhere. I tried to prepare myself for any surprises. Surely a girl in a fancy dress would be spotted instantly, and when Arthur spots me, I'd fall into that black abyss again. "No…" I mumbled under my breath. "No…"

I was so scared. So scared of showing myself to him. Arthur was such a nice guy. He came from such a nice family but he had hurt me once. The wound was still deep and tender. His face had brought nightmares to my dreams. But I wanted so badly to hug him and let him comfort me in my time of sadness. Utau was probably challenging Kukai to a ramen eating contest and here I was in America, erasing myself one by one. I needed someone who would understand me and Arthur fit the bill.

"Kumiko?" Weight dropped to the floor and I was soon embraced too tightly. The smell of soap and detergent filled my nose. Something I hadn't done in a long time was actually hug someone back. I practically clawed my nails into Arthur's hideous green sweater. His warmth felt so good and I needed someone to tell me it would be alright.

He poured questions down my throat. Ones like, "What are you doing here?", "Oh cripes! Don't tell me…", "Can't believe this is happening!", and "Oh good God, Kumiko! Why didn't we notice?"

Soon, Arthur dropped the questions and was telling me all about his plane trip here as we walked to the car. Of course, I wasn't listening; I was only trudging alongside him and nodded when it was needed.

Wes seemed so intent on making Arthur feel like a Prince. Arthur had stiffened every time his father came near him and as for my mother, well she backed up so Wes could have some "bonding time" with Arthur. Obviously, we were both not very comfortable being with our parents.

As we drove back, only one thought ran through my mind constantly. Arthur no longer looked like himself in my mind. Instead, he looked like someone I knew very well. Someone I had lost so suddenly. _Kukai…_

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**A/N: Hey guys hope this chapter was satisfying enough~! Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys will tune into the next chapter of Fallen Star~! Thanks~!  
**


	31. The Final Glimpse of a Shooting Star

**_Charlie: Hi everyone~! It's been way too long since I've updated~! I just want to say some things because well...THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF FALLEN STAR~!_ _So that being said, I shall also announce that there will NOT be a sequel to the story (sadly lolz). I feel that this story ends perfectly and if I just added more to it, it would've been way too cheesy and way too forced...Although, I feel that it already feels forced since this is the last chapter and I wanted it to get out of my hair lolz~!  
So yes, this is probably going to be the last time you hear from me...Unless you're reading my other stories...Or well...Story lolz (cuz Flower in the Wind is on Hiatus and well...Morning Trance is in progress-slow progress). So please take up reading my other stories~!_**

Last Fallen Fact: The ending for this story was inspired by the Japanese movie 5 Centimeters Per Second by Makoto Shinkai. I haven't really watched the movie (but I'm totally planning on doing so). The 3rd ending was just so sweet~! (If you look up the movie on Wikipedia you'll understand cuz there are 3 episodes to that movie). So yeah, that's how the ending was inspired.

Last Poll: How was the ending? Who did you want Kumiko to end up with? Arthur? Kukai? Or someone new?

Disclaimer: I do not own any original characters from Shugo Chara!

Ikuto: Cause if she did, then Amu would be already married to me and then we'd have a bazillion children. -_-"

Tadase: Cause if she did, then I would've ended up as Kukai's gay lover...

Amu: Cause then there would've been more lovey-dovey episodes and none of that stupid filler series they made about that one girl or whatever...

Nagahiko: Cause then I would've started dating Rima and we would've had more scenes~!

Rima: ...

Yaya: CAUSE MY DUCKIES SAID SO~! XD  


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****Things have been weird and the night had yet to pass. Arthur had stuck to me like glue. There were chunks of regret in the way he spoke to me. I couldn't forgive him easily but I could let him stay by my side. We were both guilty for Kukai's sadness. Arthur had it worse.

A few days before he arrived here in America, Arthur decided to look up his ex-girlfriend Mei, whom he thought Kukai had harassed while he wasn't looking. Still beautiful and clever, Mei had asked Arthur if he would ever date her again. Thinking it was the right thing to do, Arthur asked her if Kukai had really harassed her that night and to his disbelief, she said no. Arthur had told me that she looked so guilty but if she could look so innocent back then, then there was no way to tell if she was acting or really guilty. The way he looked at me, made me want to cry and just hold him tight like a little child lost in the dark.

Arthur was now totally crushed by his guilt and crime. He had hurt his own 'brother' and it was all because of a girl from the past. We sat on my bed, listening to the noises from the outside. Both of us stayed quiet and lived in each other's silence. Nothing could be better at this moment.

I let my hand pat his, "Arthur, I'm so sorry. You know I love Kukai but I love you too."

Arthur finally looked up from his lap and stared deep into my eyes, "Oh yeah? At this point, your love is just full of pity. I'm right, aren't I?"

I patted his hand again and shook my head, "No, there are many types of love in this world Arthur. And the love I feel for you is very pure, Arthur. It is the love of a sisterly figure. I give to you, the love of someone who feels as if you are part of their family. In fact, Arthur, you are my family. I love you."

I was much smaller than Arthur but I succeeded in wrapping my arms around him. What shocked me the most was that he had actually started to cry. Arthur had begun to soak my pajamas but I didn't care. He probably held his tears and fears in for so long that they were crushing him one by one—just like his guilt.

~.!.~

It was the wedding day and I no longer dreaded it. My mother was going to get married to a nice man who loved her and that's all that mattered. And even better, I was going to get a step-brother and sister who I couldn't feel more than happy to call family.  
Last night really changed me. I realized that I was selfish for wanting things to stay the same. I was not happy about change and the way I acted reflected on my actions.

And now, as I stared at my mother in her beautiful wedding dress, I couldn't help but smile and think of the things yet to come. I ran my hand over the red roses embroidered into my dress, for they intrigued me so. I loved the red roses on my other dress so much that I practically begged my mother to have some embroidered onto my bride's maid dress.

"Kumiko, are you ready?" My mother looked at me trying to hide her fidgeting hands.

I laughed, "Are you ready? You're the bride!" My mom blushed a deep red and nodded her head. Her face seeming so confident and yet so unsure. "Calm down mom, Wes is a wonderful man and you could not be making a better decision at this point!"

And for the first time today, she smiled her trademark smile. "I'm ready. Thank you my dear."

~.!.~

**2 Years Later**

I don't know how long I sat there thinking. In fact, I don't really know what I was thinking about at that very moment. All I know is that it was something uplifting for I felt like a completely different person. I looked over at my step-brother, Arthur, and almost laughed at the way his face looked when he was sleeping. As hard as he tried, he was never cut out to be the bad boy. He was too sweet and caring to fit that image. Thank goodness he gave it up too!

I lifted the fallen blanket from the floor of the airplane and draped it back gently over Arthur's body. _He looks so peaceful._  
I caressed the side of his cheek and smiled. We'd be going back to Japan today just for a visit.  
Summer was beginning to dawn on us so Wes and my mom sent us over to Japan so we could visit just until our summer break ended. Arthur's mom is now living with her sister and sadly, Michiko decided that after the wedding she was going to stay in Japan just to be with her mother. Of course, we all supported her decision.

Having thought of my family, I grabbed my photo album out of my bag. I smiled lightly, thinking of all the other pictures I left in my room, taped to the wall for everyone to see. I skimmed through the pictures, remembering every single memory.

I stopped at a certain picture. It was a picture of my mother, my father, and little old me. We were at a park having a picnic and we had asked a jogging couple to help us take a picture. I remember my mother fussing for my father to retake the picture because she had blinked. She really did. I laughed at her expression in the picture; one eye closed and the other semi-opened. My father's arm was draped over her shoulder and I was behind them trying to make bunny ears behind their heads.

I skipped over to the next picture which also caught my eye. It was a picture of my mother, Wess, Arthur, Michiko, me, and my new baby sister Emily. It was the day Emily was born; she was all pink and soft. I remember Arthur being so scared to touch her because he thought she'd break in his arms if he held her. I was the one who convinced him to hold her and it was such a special moment. I remember Arthur's red face and the way I helped guide him to hold the baby. He was so much taller than me.

I flipped over to another picture and almost felt my insides sink…_Kukai_.  
The name almost seemed alien to me. Not that I had forgotten it at all but it was all these memories that seemed so vague and unfamiliar. I touched the face in the picture as if he was actually in my grasps. It was a random picture; just a picture taken by mistake. Kukai just happened to be in the way when Amu tried to take a picture of the flowers they bloomed so beautifully. His face was taking up the whole picture; his green eyes, brown unruly hair, and that perfect smile. My heart beat quickened at the sight of just him.

"What's that? Kukai?" I jumped at the voice. I looked over and Arthur had leaned over, taking a good look at the picture. "Huh, is that the one Amu sent over for your Christmas present?"

I blushed, "W-When did you get up? I didn't h-hear you!" Arthur smiled.

On my lap there was a sudden shuffle and a harmony of yawns. _They're up._  
Mimori had floated up to my shoulder taking an interest in the pictures. "Oh..Kukai?"  
Yuudai had also awakened and still laid down on my lap; probably air sick. I laughed, "Yeah Kukai…" Mimori looked at me with sullen eyes, "Are you going to visit him once we land?" I nodded even though Arthur was staring at me too. It didn't matter. I still had a bit of a crush on Kukai and they all knew.

My life has changed so drastically in the past 3 years. It's almost a miracle—in fact, it is. Every night I think about my first love. The boy who changed me into someone people could depend on. Of course, I wanted to see Kukai first thing.

~.!.~

The plane had boarded an hour ago and now Arthur and I were waiting at the train station, waiting for our train. It was pretty crowded now but it was after all, lunch time. Arthur held onto my hand tightly so I wouldn't get lost in the mob.

I wondered about all the people I would see as soon as I got home. Airi and daddy were still engaged, they were waiting for me to come back home so they could get married. Not only that, but Airi was pregnant too. It was going to be a boy.  
"Hey, pay attention; we don't want to miss our train." Said Arthur.

I groaned as I waited for the train to come. "It's not coming Arthur! It's taking forever!"

"Be patient will you?" Chided Arthur.

"I'm trying to but it's been like 30 minutes!" I whined. Mimori whispered in my ear that it had actually only been 5 minutes and I blushed. Arthur and Yuudai both snickered at my childish whining.  
"Whatever! I wanna go home!"

Arthur's face changed into something you'd describe as a pedophile. "Ooh? To see your precious boyfriend, now?" I blushed.

"N-No! Mind your own busi—" My brain stopped functioning at that very moment. I saw him. Kukai was on the other side of the tracks! His hair was still it's unruly reddish, brown and his eyes still piercing green. His smile was as always perfect and heart wrenching. He was hanging out with a group of boys who I mostly didn't know. I recognized Kashino and Takashi though, my how they've grown. Although, the others were probably some of his new friends.

Not sure of what else to do to get his attention, I screamed. "KUKAI!" He looked over, not sure of where to look so I called out his name again and tried waving my arms in a frantic manner.  
He finally caught sight of me, I knew because he kept staring. His face seemed unsure but so confident that he knew who it was. I yelled his name again but it was cut off by a passing train that seemed to go on forever. And when the train finally passed, Kukai wasn't there. I looked around but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

A few minutes later, our train arrived and Arthur and I boarded with sullen expressions. Maybe this was telling me something. If Kukai still had feelings for me like I did, then he would've waited. He would've waited. He would've stayed there like I had. Poor me was heartbroken but I would get over it eventually. And so, I let my head rest on Arthur's shoulder until we reached home.

**_Message 1- From: All Star  
_****_Hey Kumiko, are you in Japan? I think I saw  
you at the train station today on my way  
to see Utau-san but I wasn't  
sure if it was you. Let's meet up again  
sometime. I'm sure we'd have a lot of  
interesting things to talk about. _****_:)_******


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